SARGODHA: There is no sign of let-up in newborns’ deaths in the nursery of District Headquarters (DHQ) Teaching Hospital as four more babies, including twins having incomplete lungs, expired in the hospital on Friday, taking the death toll to 16 during the last 36 hours.

It is a routine that three to four newborns expire daily in the hospital due to insufficient arrangements and facilities in the nursery but the issue was neither pointed out nor disclosed by the hospital sources until it surfaced when all eight infants expired in a day.

Normally, one nurse performs night duty in the nursery but on Wednesday when first eight babies died no additional nurse or child specialist was called despite the increase in number of babies who needed emergency treatment. Besides, necessary equipments like incubators and oxygen cylinders were also not available, resulting in the tragedy. The death toll is further increasing day by day.

It is learnt due to unavailability of facilities in civil hospitals and poor performance of doctors posted here, the people always take their babies to private hospitals which refer the children to DHQ Hospital to avoid consequences when the babies reach in a critical condition.

Private hospitals which claim to have gynecology units have no proper nurseries for premature births and the parents are asked to shift such babies to DHQ Hospital that is, in fact, a formality as in most of such cases the newborns cannot survive.

A doctor, avoiding to disclose identity, told Dawn due to unavailability of proper arrangements for treatment of premature births, daily casualities of up to four was a routine in the hospital but the situation was not paid attention until the case surfaced. The government had now promised to set up proper well-equipped nursery at the teaching hospital and other hospitals, he said, adding mostly the parents fell victim to improper arrangements at private hospitals as they were referred to DHQ Hospital at the last moment.

The chief minister’s inspection team has reportedly apprised the chief minister regarding the need of a neonatal unit for premature births at the teaching hospital and also suggested to set up nurseries at private hospitals as well to lessen the burden of DHQ Hospital.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2014