A three-member committee of the Health Department led by Dr Sunamali Bag, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) visited the VSS Medical College Hospital on Sunday to inquire into the reason of the death of nine newborn babies.
Committee members told the media that they would prepare their report within 48 to 72 hours and submit it to the Secretary of Heath Department. “But this special newborn care unit (SNCU) in the VSS Medical College and Hospital is the best one in the State as we saw,” said Dr Bag after the visit.
“During the inquiry we found that eight of the nine newborns were referral cases. And the weight of the some of the babies were even less than one kg,” said the team members.
“Most of them came with ‘low birth weight’, ‘very low birth weight’ and ‘extremely low birth weight’. The weight of one of the deceased was even 600 grams,” they said, adding, “They came here from distant places on rough roads in critical conditions.”
Another fact-finding team of the local people headed by Dr Aswini Nayak, a senior physician, also visited the hospital. The reply of the Hospital Superintendent was not satisfactory,” said Dr Nayak, adding, “I feel oxygen supply to the babies in question was not properly monitored and there was also irregularity in the phototherapy.”