Gujarat: Rising Infant Mortality at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital Sparks Concern

AHMEDABAD,GUJARAT : In a highly concerning trend in Gujarat, a total of 156 newborns died at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Asarwa between January and March this year. The high mortality rate has raised alarm bells about neonatal care and the underlying health issues affecting newborns in the region.

The data reveals that among these deaths, 46.50% were attributed to low birth weight. Specifically, out of 58 deaths of newborns born at the civil hospital, 28.60% were due to preterm birth. The remaining 98 deaths involved babies born elsewhere and then admitted to the civil hospital’s NICU, where 58.10% succumbed to low birth weight complications.

Between January and March, the civil hospital admitted a total of 1,197 babies to its NICU. This included 639 babies born at the hospital and 558 transferred from other hospitals. The leading causes of neonatal deaths were identified as low birth weight and preterm birth. The statistics  indicate that 28.60% of babies born at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and 37.70% of those admitted from other locations died due to prematurity.

In addition to low birth weight and preterm birth, several other conditions contributed to the high mortality rate. The data shows that 29 babies died due to sepsis (blood poisoning), 24 from congenital malformations (birth defects), 22 from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), 24 from meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), and 16 from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

An analysis of the birth weights of the deceased infants provides further insights. Of the 156 babies who died, 39 had a low birth weight, 36 weighed between 1 to 1.5 kg, 43 weighed between 1.5 to 2.5 kg, and 38 weighed more than 2.5 kg. These figures indicate that 25% of the babies who died were malnourished during the three-month period.

The NICU at the civil hospital also received numerous admissions from various other sources during this period. These included 34 babies from district hospitals, 5 from GCS Hospital, 59 from private hospitals in Ahmedabad, 21 born at home, 15 born outside Ahmedabad, and 31 from outside Gujarat. Among these, 4 babies born at home and 14 from private hospitals were among the deceased.