The Hindu              08.01.2014

More babies born at Coimbatore Corporation maternity centres: Mayor

The last three months have seen an increase in the number of deliveries in the Coimbatore Corporation’s 20 maternity homes, said Mayor S.M. Velusamy at a function organised on Tuesday at the Seetha Lakshmi Maternity Centre to give away costless goods to women who had just delivered.

He said that from 89 deliveries in September last year, the Corporation had seen a steady increase in that in October, the number of deliveries was 107 and in November it was 116. As of January 7, the 20 homes had helped 35 women give birth.

This was due to a series of efforts the civic body administration took in the recent past.

Commissioner G. Latha said that the Corporation started with distributing breakfast, lunch and supper for three days for the women who delivered at the maternity homes. The civic body gave bread and milk for breakfast, full meals with egg for lunch and idlis, bananas and milk for supper. The expenditure worked out to Rs. 140 a woman a day.

In the latest initiative, the Corporation provided two night dresses, three baby dresses, baby towels and napkins, sanitary napkins and a mosquito net for the women. The cost of the package was Rs. 631.

The initiatives had led to the increase in births in the urban health centres, which had increased the Corporation’s share of births in government institutions from seven to 11 per cent. The number of births in government institutions in the district in a month stood at 400.

Aside from the costless goods, the Corporation had planned to improve infrastructure in the SLM home and also other maternity centres. It would soon buy a scanning machine and X-ray machine for installation at the home. It also planned to set up four more labs in the city to do basic testing.

The setting up of the labs would avoid women and people in general from going to the SLM and avail themselves of the services from labs nearer to home. The Corporation also planned to improve the maternity centres with funds from the Central Government under the National Urban Health Mission.

It was also trying to address issues related to shortage of a few doctors and staff nurses at the health centres.

Coimbatore Corporation provides breakfast, lunch and supper for three days for mothers at its maternity homes.