Despite being the country with the largest number of premature births, India faces an acute shortage of facilities that focusses solely on care of such babies. On Children's Day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the 105-bed natal intensive care unit (NICU) facility at Surya Hospital in Mumbai, while stressing on the need for quality and affordable healthcare.
"There are many who die due to lack of facilities and hence it is essential to have physical and geographical expansion of NICU beds across the state. Accessibility, Quality and affordability needs to be the goal for healthcare fraternity," Fadnavis said.
According to a 2013 estimate by WHO, in India over 35 lakh babies are born ahead of term. “Despite decrease in neonatal mortality rate, the number of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is insufficient in our country," said Dr BS Avasthi, founder and MD at Surya Hospital.
While a major reason for the preterm births is malnutrition in mothers, around 25% of the babies born using the IVF technique tend to be preterm as well. In triplets it can be a staggering 70%.
High cost of maintaining neonatal ICUs and the expertise required has meant that even large hospitals don't have more than 10 beds dedicated for neonatal care. The requirement in cities like Mumbai and Delhi alone though for NICU beds is as high as 400 beds.
Dr Nandkishor Kabra, who was associated with the civic-run KEM hospital in the past and is now with Surya Hospital believes that one of the primary things is to believe that the baby can survive. "In government system we have to try to rationalise the resources. What is also needed is that we spend time counselling the paprents," he said.
While officially KEM hospital has 38 beds dedicated to neonatal care, it is sometimes extended to 55 due to the large patient load. The neonatal facilities in rural areas tend to be abysmal.
Babies admitted to the NICU can weigh as little as 500 grams and be born as early as 23 weeks. "Despite this the mortality rate can be brought down to as little as 2-3% with proper care," Dr Avasthi said.
Preterm babies could suffer from long term brain damage, damaged vision and development issues among others making the first hour after birth the most crucial to receive care.
