14 Infants Died in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital From 1-5 January

Reasons for the deaths included premature birth, respiratory issues and congenital abnormalities among others.

According to a statement by Ahmedabad civil hospital authorities, they have reportedly registered as many as 14 infant deaths in the first five days of 2019.

This comes a day after 196 infant deaths had been reported from civil hospitals in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

A government-appointed panel's report into Kota's JK Lon Hospital had shown around 105 children died in a span of over a month in the Rajasthan hospital.

According to Gujarat health officials quoted, seven deaths were due to congenital abnormalities, five died having been born premature and two died due to respiratory issues.

“From 1-5 January, 127 deliveries were performed here. Of these, 23 newborns had to be admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), of which seven died. Apart from the deliveries, 36 newborns who had come from other referral units were also admitted to our NICU. Of these, seven died,” an official at the Ahmedabad civil hospital told The Indian Express.

Dr GH Rathod, medical superintendent at the Civil Hospital said that low-birth weight along with the health of the mother were predominant factors that decided the survival of infants, but also reportedly acknowledged that winter conditions could lead to a spike in deaths, due to heightened vulnerability to infections, particularly respiratory problems.

Playing a blame game, Gujarat deputy CM Nitin Patel on Sunday told ANI that the Congress party was raising the issue of infant deaths in Rajkot and Ahmedabad to divert attention from the deaths of 110 infants in Kota since December.

He also reportedly termed the deaths a ‘cyclical phenomenon’ while admitting they were on the ‘higher’ side. He also claimed that the infant mortality ratio in Gujarat was under 25 for every 100, an improvement from the ratio of 67 per 1000 infants in 1997.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)