Improvement in transport system for mother and newborns, development of referral protocols and special training modules for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in neonatal and maternal health are needed to reduce mortality in new born babies, said consultant pediatrics and neonatology Max hospital, Dr Rohit Srivastava while addressing newsmen here on Friday.
The programme was organised to inform about launch of a state-of-the-art Neonatal and Pediatric ICU services in the hospital.
He said that India has made considerable progress in the area of maternal and child health care through innovative and comprehensive health packages but new-born babies however has missed out on the attention.
Dr Srivastava informed that three major causes of neonatal deaths are preterm birth complications, infections, and intra-partum related complications and together, they contribute to nearly 90 percent of total neonatal deaths in India.
“Around 6.6 million children, under five years of age, die globally every year and about 44 percent of these deaths occur in the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life).
In India this proportion is high at around 54 percent. India contributes to one-fifth of global live births and more than a quarter of neonatal deaths. 7.6 lakh neonates die every year in India and 70 percent of infant deaths in India occur in first 4 weeks of Birth,’’ he informed.
The General Manager of the hospital, Dr Sandeep Singh Tanwar highlighted the features of the neonatal care and pediatric ICU unit of the hospitals.