TIRUCHY: Two female babies, both under six months of age and inmates of a private shelter in Srirangam, died at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) on Wednesday. The babies were underweight and were suffering from seasonal pneumonia and nutritional imbalance, health department sources said.
On the deaths, MGMGH Dean D Nehru said, "One baby was admitted 40 days ago and was being monitored regularly by our specialists. The other baby was admitted on March 31, her second in the past two months. Though the recently-admitted baby showed slight progress her health condition deteriorated last week and she couldn't sustain." It may be noted that a three-month-old baby from the same shelter died on February 26 this year after not responding to treatment at MGMGH.
Mentioning it normal to receive abandoned babies in a weak state, who are then produced before the district child welfare committee before sending them off to the shelter, District Child Protection Officer P Rahul Gandhi said, “The two babies, one born in December 2022 and the other in February 2023, came to us in a weak state of health and we had been giving them the best of attention."
Pointing out that an FIR would now be registered as per procedure, Gandhi stressed that the babies were being monitored by the shelter staff along with the district administration and health officials. “Previously there were seven caretakers for 35 children below five years of age but last month we appointed an additional four caretakers for them," he added.
When contacted, P Mohan, the chairperson of the district Child Welfare Committee, said, "We have sought for the discharge summary, with all other details, of the dead babies. We are planning to analyse them by involving a senior paediatrician and understand the issue."
Party district secretaries S Siva and R Raja of the CPI and the CPM respectively, in separate statements condemned the babies’ deaths and urged the district administration to hold an inquiry, and to take efforts to improve the baby shelter in Srirangam.