Seoni District Hospital records 80 newborn deaths amid probe calls
In just six months, 80 newborns lost their lives at the Seoni District Hospital's Special Newborn Care Unit in Madhya Pradesh.
This has sparked calls for an investigation, with local BJP MLA Dinesh Rai Munmun raising concerns about doctors missing night shifts and nurses lacking proper training.
Most of these babies struggled with breathing issues.
Hospital: many infants premature or underweight
Hospital officials say many of the infants were already critically ill, often born too early or underweight: over half of the 1,188 babies treated had low birth weights.
Civil Surgeon Dr. Vinod Kumar Navkar added that its newborn death rate is under 7.5%, which he points out is lower than that of other districts in the Jabalpur division and below the recommended 10% benchmark for neonatal units, but he admits they could use more support from pediatric specialists to improve care further.