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Mumbai needs more ventilators.......Jyoti Shelar & Deepa Suryanarayan
International guidelines say a pre-term mother should always be taken to a big hospital which has proper neonatal intensive care unit [Nicu] with ventilators.
Sarita Patil, who, on December 23 last year, gave birth to two twins just five and half months into her pregnancy, should not have been admitted to Omkar Hospital, Kandivli, which has no Nicu. It would have saved her husband the trouble of running from hospital to hospital in search of ventilators for the twins. And, perhaps, it would have saved the baby that died a day after birth.
“The neo-nate without ventilatory support may go through a lot of stress, including hypothermia, hypoxic damage (lack of oxygen), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level), etc. Therefore, it is better to have the mother deliver the baby in a bigger care facility,” Dr Fazal Nabi, paediatrician and intensivitist, Jaslok Hospital and Saifee Hospital, said.
Jaslok Hospital has a seven-bed neonatal unit, with four ventilators. “Putting a baby on ventilator is a difficult task. You need complete support and care, trained staff, including nurses and resident doctors,” Nabi said.
Asian Heart Institute has 11 Nicu beds equipped with ventilators. “More than equipment, you need trained people. Smaller nursing homes do not have the infrastructure and funds to maintain such facilities,” Dr Ramakant Panda, vice-chairman, said.
Cama Hospital has seven ventilators in its Nicu. Six of them are functional. “If there is need for more, we refer patients to JJ Hospital,” Saroj Maheshgauri, medical superintendent, said.
JJ Hospital has four ventilators in its Nicu. “We will soon get a few more ventilators,” Dr Ashok Rathod, head of pediatrics, said. “Patients are referred to three other state hospitals if all four ventilators are occupied.”
Clearly, there are not enough ventilators in the city, not even in the big hospitals. “There is always a shortage of ventilators, for which patients in public hospitals suffer the most,” Dr Nitin K Shah, president, Indian Academy of Pediatricians, and a consultant with Hinduja Hospital, said.
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