The Hindu 23.10.2013
16 newborn units to be set up soon at Corpn. hospitals
To provide state-of-the-art care to ailing newborns, the
Chennai Corporation is setting up 16 newborn stabilisation units at its
hospitals across the city.
Mayor Saidai Duraisamy on
Tuesday inaugurated the first unit at the 24-hour emergency obstetric
care centre in Vadapalani. The 16 facilities are being commissioned at a
cost of Rs.2.4 crore.
Every year, some of the
infants among the 18,000 born in Chennai Corporation hospitals, die
because of breathing problems, because they are underweight or due to
congenital abnormalities. The newborn stabilisation units, with
facilities including a pulse oximeter, warmer and phototherapy are
expected to reduce infant mortality in many impoverished neighbourhoods.
Neonatal
care in the city has already improved this year with the development of
full-fledged specialised newborn care units in government hospitals
such as Government Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar Lying-in Hospital, the
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Kasturba Gandhi
Hospital for Women and Children.
But as of now, most
infants born to parents who live in slums are taken to the Institute of
Child Health, Government Stanley Hospital and Government Kilpauk
Hospital for specialised neonatal care.
These 16 units are aimed at providing this care at Corporation hospitals, a press release said.