Two of triplet die at home, one in critical state at Arunachal Pradesh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BORDUMSA: Two babies died during the home care period at Arunachal's remote Chakma hamlet — Dharmanagar-II under Miao Circle in Changlang district here — on Wednesday morning.

The casualty is among the three normal infants (triplet) that were born to 23-year-old Robina Chakma at her 'Chang Ghar' (bamboo hut) at around 3:30 am on Monday. The traditionally constructed house faces the windward location beside the banks of the Nao-Dehing River.

The two infants breathed their last within 36 hours of birth. The condition of the other infant is stated to be critical. It has been learnt that institutional care and treatment to the mother and the infants could not be provided at all even after persuasion by the ASHA worker for reasons best known to the hospital authority.

Sources informed that if quality antenatal care, skilled child care at birth, postnatal care for mother and baby, and care of small and sick newborns could be availed on time, the scenario might have been different. However, preterm birth and intrapartum-related complications (birth asphyxia or lack of breathing at birth) which generally leads to neonatal deaths might have been the cause of the death of the two infants.

According to WHO, children who die within the first 28 days of birth suffer from conditions and diseases are associated with the lack of quality care at birth or skilled care and treatment immediately after birth and in the first days of life. Although the global number of newborns deaths declined from 5 million in 1990 to 2.4 million in 2019, children face the greatest risk of death in their first 28 days. Similarly, in 2019, 47% of all under-5 deaths occurred in the newborn period with about one third dying on the day of birth and close to three quarters dying within the first week of life.

Similarly in Arunachal Pradesh, the infant mortality rate in 2016 was about 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, an increase in infant mortality compared to the previous years. This data was published by Statistical Research Department in October 16, 2020.

Earlier in the last quarter of September 2020, the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW), Itanagar, took a suo-moto cognizance regarding the unfortunate death of a pregnant woman and her two "unborn twins" due to the alleged medical negligence. The Adi Students Union (AdiSU) has also questioned the State government over its preparedness to deal with such cases amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

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