Warangal set to become neonatal healthcare hub

​Warangal: At a time when the neonatal mortality rate is high, the MGM Hospital in Warangal is all set to become north Telangana’s neonatal healthcare hub. If all goes well, superspecialty course, Doctor of Medicine in Neonatology (second PG), which is a rarity in the country, is likely to be introduced in Kakatiya Medical College soon.

The state-of-the-art Special Care Newborn Unit (SCNU) that provides quality level-II newborn care services in Warangal is said to be pivotal as it caters to the needs of north Telangana districts besides the region of Sironcha in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. In fact, out of the 12 SCNUs in the State, Warangal district alone has six of them.

Since the 20-bed SCNU started in the MGM Hospital at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore in 2012 in addition to the existing Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), there has been a huge improvement in the survival rate of newborn babies.

Before the SCNU came up, the infant mortality rate was alarmingly high at the MGM due to constraints such as staff crunch and medical facilities. Now, the MGM’s SCNU is equipped with seven Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines and five ventilators, besides a fixed pattern of staff that includes four doctors, 14 nurses, four support staff, one lab technician, one computer operator and three security personnel.

From the 26.81 per cent mortality rate against the 2,875 admissions in 2013, the SCNU was able to bring down the death rate to 19.71 per cent against the admission of 2,967 infants in 2015. “Premature births, maternal infections and birth asphyxia are the main root cause of neonatal deaths,” Dr B Balram, Professor and HoD of Paediatrics, Kakatiya Medical College and MGM Hospital, said.

Notwithstanding this, the survival rate can be improved if the babes are brought to the facility at the earliest, he said, stating that 39 out of 1,000 live births in the country are dying without celebrating their first birthday. Of which 25 of them were within two days of their birth, he added.

Against this backdrop, the MGM authorities are pinned their hopes on the Accreditation Certificate issued by the National Neonatology Forum (NNF) as could it change the face of the neonatal health care services in the region transforming Warangal the hub of advanced neonatal care. A two-member team of the NNF is scheduled to inspect SCNU on Wednesday.

The MGM authorities, once they get the accreditation, will seek the permission of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to start the DM Neonatology course. It may be noted here that Telangana government had already issued Essentiality Certificate for introducing DM Neonatology course. Besides this, Nursing in Neonatology, Fellowship in Neonatology and other diplomas courses will also come up, thus providing better neonatal care services to the patients in the region.