Rise in preemies seeking neonatal care in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Call it a shortage of healthcare staff due to the pandemic or lack of facilities in semi-urban areas, but Bengaluru’s hospitals have noticed a sharp rise in the number of preterm babies born elsewhere seeking tertiary care and neonatal ICU facilities.
Motherhood hospitals alone had close to 400 preemies referrals between April to October this year compared to 170 during the same period last year.Doctors say they get calls from across the state and even neighbouring states, especially seeking NICU (neonatal ICU) beds and NICU-fitted ambulances.
Since hospitals in the districts were converted into Covid-only facilities, a majority of the workforce was diverted to tackle the pandemic, forcing parents to seek additional care for preemies in Bengaluru, said Dr Prathap Chandra, lead consultant neonatologist & paediatrician, Motherhood Hospital, Indiranagar.
Premature babies are those born between week 26 and 37 of pregnancy and often suffer low weight, breathing difficulties and intraventricular haemorrhage among other health issues.
“We have four NICU ambulances and we go any distance to pick up ill babies. Each ambulance has a neonatologist and a trained nurse,” says Dr Chandra. Of 400 preemies picked up from districts such as Hassan, Chitradurga, Madanapalle, Ananthapur (both Andhra Pradesh), Tumakuru, Hindupur and Davanagere, 40% were female.
Dr Chandra said in most cases, the babies travelled free of cost with their fathers. “When babies are referred to us, their mothers are still recovering from delivering and are unfit to travel, so babies travel alone with our staff or with their fathers,” Dr Chandra said. “Mothers travel later. During the lockdown, we issued special letters and communicated with various district authorities to let mothers travel. We did not have a single fatality which is a matter of immense satisfaction.”
Of the preemies brought to Motherhood, 43 weighed less than 1kg at birth (extreme low birth weight). Twins from Ananthapur, born in the 28th week, were among the referrals. While the girl weighed a mere 760 grams, the boy weighed 860 grams. There were 105 babies weighing between 1kg-1.5kg (very low birth weight) 105. But for immediate neonatal care, the babies could have died, doctors say.
Dr KS Sanjay, director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH), said they saw a 5-10% increase in premature babies seeking neonatal care. “We have 25 ventilators in the total 65-bed neonatal ICU, and all beds are occupied all the time. Though we get newborn babies referred from across the state and from Andhra Pradesh, many private hospitals in Bengaluru refer their cases to us,” said Dr Sanjay.
At government-run IGICH, parents or family members are advised to visit the hospital and register before bringing the baby to ensure no unnecessary waiting.
Dr Karthik Nagesh, chairman & HOD, Neonatal ICUs & Manipal Advanced Children's Centre, says the number of newborns referred from outside Bengaluru, rose by 30% during the lockdown.
“We had referrals from Bengaluru’s maternity homes too as they were all converted to Covid hospitals,” he said. “Many pregnant women were referred when premature delivery was expected.”