Ahmedabad, Oct 29 (PTI) Nine newborns have died at thecivil hospital here since Friday midnight, prompting theGujarat government to order a probe into the circumstances andcauses of their death.
Five of the babies were brought here from distant placesand suffered from "extremely low birth weight" complications,while some suffered from life-threatening diseases and were incritical condition, the government said in a release today.
"Of the nine deaths in 24 hours, five babies werereferred from distant places -- Lunawada, Surendranagar,Mansa, Viramgam, Himmatnagar -- and were having severe lifethreatening conditions such as extremely low birth weight(around 1.1 kg), hyaline membrane disease, early onsetsepticaemia and disseminated intra-vascular coagulation," saidthe release.
Besides, four babies born at the civil hospital "died dueto lethal complications such as severe birth asphyxia andmeconium aspiration," it said.
A hospital official said 18 children have died in pastthree days at the facility.
A committee under R K Dixit, deputy director of medicaleducation, will inquire into the circumstances and causes ofdeath, the release said.
"Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today held a meeting inGandhinagar with senior health officials to take stock of thesituation," principal secretary, health and family welfaredepartment, Jayanti Ravi said.
She said the condition of some of the babies haddeteriorated and they had to be referred to the civil hospitalhere from distant places as doctors there might still be onDiwali vacation.
The committee will look at the prima facie reasons forthe deaths and is expected to submit its report in a day, shesaid.
The government, in the release, said, "Extremely lowbirth weight deliveries continue to be a challenge in Gujaratin view of suboptimal nutritional status of pregnant women."The average number of deaths of newborns in the Ahmedabadcivil hospital is around five to six per day, the releaseadded. PTI KA PD GKSRY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
