Hyderabad: Chilling rise in neonatal deaths

Hyderabad: An estimated 60,000 newborn children die every year in India due to infections and resistance to antibiotics, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research. Infections contracted from the mother during child birth and also in the intensive care units of hospitals are the major reasons for death.
Experts state that five per cent of deaths are due to unknown reasons but the others are largely due to infections.

Dr Anjul Dayal, senior consultant paediatric intensivist said, “The most common reason for neonatal deaths in hospitals before 72 hours is unclean hospital beds where the birthing occurs. There is contamination, paramedical staff don’t use clean gloves or there is continuous vaginal examination. In some cases it was also found that too much of enema was given to the mother and that leads to constant passing of stools while the birthing is going on. These factors lead to infection.”

When the infection is found to be after 72 hours of childbirth, it means that the hospital rooms and wards are not being kept clean and that there are too many people handling the baby without following proper hygiene methods. Reuse of old clothes which are not washed properly, putting the child on formula milk rather than mother’s milk are also some of the causes.

Says paediatrician Dr P. Narsimha, “In the children’s ward where the child is first kept, if they are close to infected babies then there are chances of infection. Hence the hospital’s practice of cleanliness, keeping babies separately and having paramedical staff follow proper hygiene methods have to be followed. It is also found that in severe sepsis there is antibiotic resistance which is alarming.”

The deaths of newborn children are recorded by ICMR which has taken up a nationwide initiative to control the rate of infection in institutions. The numbers are from the initial compilation which was carried out across the country. Hospitals that want NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare) accreditation have to ensure that there are less than five per cent deaths.