Health department provides 7 more ventilators at general hospital
Following the shocking neonatal deaths at the Dharmapuri government hospital, which has raised several issues of concern the health department has decided to provide seven more ventilators for the Dharmapuri GH and depute four more doctors and six
Chennai: Following the shocking neonatal deaths at the Dharmapuri government hospital, which has raised several issues of concern — why did so many newborns die so suddenly, the narrow period from one pregnancy to another in the case of the babies’ mothers — the health department has decided to provide seven more ventilators for the Dharmapuri GH and depute four more doctors and six nurses.
Health officials have been told to ascertain the possible factors that could help improve child survival and reduce preventable child deaths. “A new ward with 30 beds is ready at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for occupation and it will be fully equipped to handle emergencies,” says Dr Geethalakshmi, director of medical education. The DME who has been camping at the Dharmapuri GH since the last two days, claims that the birthrate in the family has been high in some cases.
“Some have three children and the birth frequency from one pregnancy to another was very low. Moreover, marriage at a young age and malnutrition of the mothers are other concerns. The health officials involved in bringing down the infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality rate (MMR) will explore all aspects and take up awareness campaigns,” she said.
For a big district such as Dharmapuri, there were no corporate hospitals offering neonatal treatment. “So all cases have to be brought to the GH,” says Dr Sreenivasan, state nodal officer of NICU. He ruled out the possibilities of any infection that could have claimed the lives of the 13 newborns.
“We took swabs to confirm that there was no infectious outbreak. The newborns were brought in a bad condition and despite our efforts, they could not be saved,” Dr Geethalakshmi said. While one infant was brought from a private hospital others were referred from PHCs, Dr Sreenivasan added. Since the past three years, the Dharmapuri GH has seen a steady rise in neonatal admissions from about 2,000 cases, to about 4,500 now.
Amid rising incidence of death of newborns, the TN government plans to set up counselling centres in all government hospitals to provide nutrional and medical advice for women on pre-natal and post-natal care. According to M.S. Shanmugam, state director for health planning, the counselling centres will educate pregnant women on the nutritious food they should eat to deliver healthy babies.
They should also go for periodical medical check-up to ensure the safety and health of the fetus. The counseling centres to be opened in all government hospitals will minimise the communication gap between the patients, their relatives and the doctors.
A doctor, nurse and counselor will be appointed at these centrs which will provide counseling for the relatives of babies kept at ICUs.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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