As many as 21 newborn babies died last month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the government’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, Thane district. This is the same hospital where 18 patients had died in a span of 24 hours in December 2023.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s home turf is Thane; he had visited the hospital in 2023 and ordered its revamp. But little seems to have changed since then. When contacted by The FPJ on Thursday, the hospital dean, Dr Rakesh Barot, confirmed the 21 deaths (six septic and 15 non-septic).
He said the numbers were not alarming, considering the fact that most of the neonates were brought to the hospital in a critical state, after efforts to save them in private hospitals had failed. Head of the paediatric department Dr Jayesh Panot said, “Most of the children concerned were the ones who did not receive treatment in the golden minute, which is the minute just after birth.
By the time the kids are admitted to our hospital, precious time has already been lost and there is little that can be done medically to save them.” Another doctor said some private hospitals exploit the children’s parents by admitting the babies for a couple of days, charging huge fees and then giving up. Dr Panot said there were 35 beds in the NICU, hardly sufficient to handle the load of patients from Palghar and other tribal areas. “The next hospital with a NICU is at Nashik,” he pointed out.
