Baby deaths rattle Vijayawada hospital.

Seven new- born babies have died at a government hospital in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh in a span of 24 hours, allegedly due to non- functioning incubators and the negligence of hospital staff.

Though the first death took place on Sunday afternoon, it came to light only when the sixth infant died at 9.30 pm on Sunday and the parents raised an uproar. The seventh death was reported on Monday morning.

The babies who died were two- to- three days old. Their parents alleged that only four out of the 11 incubators were functioning at the hospital and that the kids were put in broken incubators as the neonatal ward was not equipped with a centralised oxygen system for incubators.

Children in this ward are usually under the supervision of post- graduate ( PG) doctors, but they have been on strike for the last one week demanding a hike in their stipend. The nursing staff had been discharging PG students' duties under the guidance of senior doctors.

Parents of the dead children alleged the nursing staff was negligent in their task of monitoring and taking care of the infants. A few locals also blamed the ongoing strike by the junior doctors for the accident.

The scene at the hospital on Monday was tragic, with bereaved mothers crying inconsolably holding their lifeless babies in their arms. The parents staged a protest in front of the hospital on Monday with local legislators also joining in. Tension prevailed as a sizeable number of people gathered to protest against the authorities.

Hospital superintendent H. B. Lal initially said the deaths were due to various ailments but later agreed to conduct an enquiry. He claimed that the hospital reports two to three such deaths a day. According to him, four died in the general ward and two in the neo- natal intensive care unit.

Local MLA D. Umamaheswara Rao, who is leading the protests against the hospital deaths, demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh per family besides dismissal of the negligent doctors and nursing staff.

Andhra Pradesh health minister D. Nagender deputed a team of doctors from Hyderabad to probe the incident. The State Human Rights Commission took up the case suo motu and directed the state government to file a report immediately.

Krishna collector Peeyush Kumar has also ordered an inquiry to find out whether incubator failure led to the deaths.

INCUBATOR DEATHS RISE

May 3, 2009

A four- month- old baby was returned dead and half- burnt to its parents at a private hospital in Allahabad

January 31, 2009

Six infants were burnt alive at the government- run Rajendra Hospital in Patiala

December 2008

A three- day- old baby was killed after several incubators in a local hospital in Ahmedabad caught fire

November 2008

A newborn, barely an hour old, suffered 80 per cent burns when his incubator caught fire in the Sushila Jaswant Rai Hospital in Meerut

March 2008

A five- day- old child died in an incubator in the Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital in New Delhi March 2008 A three- day- old baby died in an incubator after a short- circuit at the Shardaben Hospital in Ahmedabad

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