Neonatal mortality rate high at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital

GUWAHATI: Despite having sophisticated machinery to treat preterm babies, the neonatal mortality rate at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) is 33 per 1,000 live births, and about 60 per cent of the total crib deaths are due to premature birth.
The figures are pretty high compared to other hospitals in the country. Doctors and other employees of the hospital have blamed shortage of adequate manpower for the deaths.
This, despite the fact that earlier this year, the hospital inaugurated a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) equipped to treat 80 to 90 babies at a time.
The head of the department of paediatric medicine, Abhinandan Das, said, “In other hospitals of the country, the NICU is considered a separate department with full-fledged staff to run the unit. However, here, the unit works under the department of paediatrics medicine. The department has 11 doctors, five registrars and 14 nurses, who also have to look after the babies in the NICU. The unit should have a separate set up with at least six members, including professors, associate professors, registrars and 20 nurses. We have submitted several proposals to the authorities, but nothing has been done so far.”
At times, the rush is so huge that it becomes difficult to manage with the limited manpower, Das added.
The unit has been accredited by the National Neonatology Forum and hence, no amount is charged from patients.
“The NICU, which provides 24-hour service, has facilities like radiant warmer, light therapy for babies prone to jaundice, ventilators and life support systems and laboratories. We are trying to elevate it to level three by introducing more new technologies. However, even after being equipped with such technologies, due to shortage of staff, the performance of the unit is not up to the mark,” he added.
Preterm babies are born with low-birth weight and they suffer primarily from cerebral problems, malnutrition, hypertension, eclampsia and diabetes.