Kakinada Records 44 Infant Deaths During First Quarter
Harendhira Prasad stressed the need for coordinated efforts among various wings of the Medical and Health department to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
Kakinada:Kakinada district collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad has directed health officials to analyse the causes behind the death of 44 infants recorded between January and March and take preventive measures to avoid similar incidents in future.
Reviewing maternal and infant mortality with Health department officials on Saturday, the collector said 11 maternal deaths had been recorded during the first three quarters of 2025. However, he expressed satisfaction that no maternal deaths had been reported in the district during the fourth quarter of 2025–26.
Harendhira Prasad stressed the need for coordinated efforts among various wings of the Medical and Health department to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
He directed officials to create awareness among pregnant women and their families from the time of conception about danger signs, birth planning, referral procedures, and safe delivery practices.
The collector emphasised effective coordination in shifting patients from primary health centres (PHCs) to community health centres (CHCs) and the district headquarters’ hospital during emergencies to ensure timely medical care. He asked officials to pay special attention to high-risk pregnancies and ordered a detailed review of three infant deaths reported within the jurisdictions of Mallam PHC, Sitaram Nagar Urban PHC in Kakinada, and Shankarayyapeta in Peddapuram.
Harendhira Prasad underlined that any shortcomings identified at the field level should be rectified immediately.
Those who attended the meeting included District Medical and Health officer J. Narasimha Naick, Kakinada Government General Hospital CSRMO Dr. P. Komala, District Hospitals’ coordinator Maheswara Rao, District TB Control officer Dr. Chalamaiah, and NTR Vaidya Seva coordinator Dr. Radhakrishna.
