In need of care: One quintuplet born at Khyber hospital dies

Born prematurely, four others in critical condition

PESHAWAR:

The lives of four infants who were born prematurely at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) is at risk due to the absence of a well-equipped children’s hospital in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, trained human resource and above antenatal care.

Asiya Bibi, 28, a resident of Jamrud tehsil in Khyber Agency, was brought to KTH where she gave birth to five babies, four boys and one girl, following a caesarean section.

However, one of the boys could not survive and passed away on Saturday while the rest are in critical condition.

The doctors have said the four infants, three boys and the girl, were in critical condition as they were born prematurely.

Short on machinery

KTH officials said the nursery was already overburdened since 15 to 16 babies on average were being taken care of at around five incubators every day. Another official said this was being done out of sheer compulsion.

“We are short of space since we have been managing things within the limited resources,” a senior official said, requesting anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the media. “We have been using five incubators for over a dozen newborn babies.”

He added the four babies were kept at in incubators. However, he added they were in serious condition and could only survive if they are taken to Shifa International in Islamabad.

“The cost for taking care of one such baby at Shifa hospital is around Rs0.6 million,” he added.

When contacted, Dr Hamid, who has been serving at KTH, confirmed the babies were in critical condition as they were born after 29 weeks.

Unfavourable conditions

“Internationally and as per guidelines of the World Health Organization, one nurse must be assigned per baby, which is something really difficult to be done in our part of the world and could happen only in Europe or the United States,” Hamid told The Express Tribune.

He said all newborn babies were exposed to infections and a majority could fall prey to hypothermia. Hamid said babies born prematurely [on March24] could not resist body temperature.

He added around five incubators were currently functional at KTH, two at Hayatabad Medical Complex and around three were functional at Lady Reading Hospital. He added the antenatal care in the country was not up to the mark besides, KTH lacked trained human resources and there was no ventilator at the facility.

Moreover, in a statement, KTH administration has requested the media not to visit the facility for coverage of the birth of the quintuplets, saying condition of the babies was unsatisfactory. The statement added the hospital management was utilising all its resources and has kept the babies under strict medical supervision, besides providing all medical support free of cost.

The hospitals in K-P lack child gastroenterologists, child urologists and heart surgeons for children weighing below 10 kilogrammes and a majority of children with such problems are shifted to Islamabad, Sindh or Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2016.