Cradle shock: 7 babies die on Children’s Day
Subhro Maitra TNN 15.11.11
Malda: Wails of bereaved mothers filled the wards and corridors of Malda District Hospital in north Bengal on Children’s Day as seven babies died on Monday morning, taking the total number of crib deaths at the hospital in the past week to 22.
Hospital authorities said the infants who had died were all in a “critical” state, the same explanation they had given for nine crib deaths on November 8 and 9. Coming within a couple of weeks of Kolkata’s B C Roy Memorial Hospital — the state’s only referral hospital for kids — reporting 15 crib deaths between October 24 and 27, the Malda horror stepped up the heat on the state government to improve its infrastructure and performance on health, a portfolio held by chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself.
Governor M K Narayanan, though, defended the state government and was hopeful the situation would improve soon. “The state government is seized of the matter and this is something which can’t be changed in a day,” Narayanan told reporters in Kolkata, adding the situation in Bengal wasn’t as bad as in some other states.
The first crib death at the Malda hospital was reported around 8am on Monday. One-year-old Bapan Mandal of Sripur Colony village was admitted with cough and cold. Within an hour, the baby died. Father Prakash and mother Mangali insisted the baby’s ailment wasn’t serious and died after he was given an injection. Babies were critical: Officials
Malda: Seven crib deaths within a few hours on Children’s Day morning at Malda district hospital stepped up the heat on the state government. Asraful Haque of Kaliachak, who brought his pregnant wife, Jahanara Biwi, to the hospital on Sunday night also lost his children. On Monday morning, she delivered twins — a boy and a girl. They died within two minutes of each other; one at 6.58am, the other at 7am.
Ajinur Biwi, wife of daily labourer Rintu Mia, gave birth to a girl at 11.20pm on Sunday. Family members alleged no paediatrician attended to the infant. Before 12 hours had passed, she lost her baby, too. Anjira Biwi and Nabiran Biwi also saw their newborn babies die the same morning, as did Lalman Biwi, whose daughter passed away at 12 noon.
Three crib deaths were reported on Sunday, too. Reshma Biwi, who was admitted to the hospital with labour pain in the morning, lost her baby at 10.35pm. Latika Ghosh’s five-day-old daughter, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital for three days, also died on Sunday morning. In the afternoon, Unjari Biwi’s newborn daughter was reported dead.
Dr Swapan Jhariat, chief medical officer of health (CMOH) of Malda, found no fault with the hospital authorities: “Most of the babies were newborn and critically underweight.” Dr S P Basak, director of health services, said, “We were informed that the babies were underweight and in critical condition.”
(With inputs from agencies)
Four more babies die at Malda hospital(The Telegraph) |
| Malda (WB), Nov 14 (PTI): Four more newborns have died at the Malda District Hospital, taking the toll to 18 in the hospital since November 8. A senior hospital official said all the four dead today were new-born babies. One of the new-borns had been re-admitted after being discharged but expired within 15 minutes of admission. The babies were underweight and the deaths were caused by septicaemia, said the official at the hospital where the new 27-bedded neo-natal unit was functioning for the third day. The hospital has 80 beds in the paediatric ward manned by five child specialists. Fourteen babies had died in the hospital in the past seven days due to broncho-pneumonia and other serious ailments. In October, 36 babies died in several district hospitals and the referral B C Roy Children's Hospital in Kolkata. |
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