At least 80 infants have died at a government hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district in the past six months, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.
Hospital officials attributed the deaths mainly to premature births and low birth weight, The Indian Express reported. They said 34 infants died between April and June, followed by 46 between July and September.
On Saturday, Dinesh Rai Munmun, a legislator from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, inspected the hospital after receiving reports of infant deaths and called for an investigation.
Rai told The Indian Express that hospital staff initially tried to stop him from entering the premises. He said no doctor was present and that the staff told him an inquiry and audit were under way.
The MLA alleged that 46 infants had died in the past three months due to breathing difficulties.
“The hospital has a ventilator for children who have difficulty breathing, and a doctor is supposed to be appointed for this,” he said. “But the doctor does not remain there at night. The nurses are not trained for this work.”
Civil surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar Navkar said that critically ill infants from rural areas of the district were referred to the special newborn care unit of the hospital.
“Many a times, these babies are born at six, seven or eight months,” The Indian Express quoted him...