India: State has no data on premature births

India

The birth registers maintained by the state health department do not record the number of preterm babies born every year but groups them along with babies with low birth weigh

INDIA: Infant mortality down in state

India

A drop in infant mortality can be attributed in part to a reduction in neonatal mortality rate.

India: Boost in fight against baby deaths – Siliguri gets new unit for free special care for infants

India

A special unit to offer free treatment to newborns with life threatening diseases was launched at Siliguri District Hospital today as part of the Bengal government’s goal to bring down infant mortality in the state.

Numbers Aside, India’s Newborns Face Challenges

India

 Usha Kumar’s wails sounded like the cries of a wounded animal, guttural and wrenching, her screams seeping through the corridor of Kasturba Hospital in Delhi, until, finally, mercifully, Ms. Kumar pushed out her baby boy.

Scheme aims to reduce neonatal death rate

India

 For the first time ever, India has decided to roll out a newborn care scheme that will ensure Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) visit the homes of new mothers six times in 42 days to encourage safe practices and early detection and free referral of sick babies.

Medicine prepared by AIIMS can prevent neonatal deaths

India

 The AII-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) has prepared a medicine that can prevent thousands of neonatal deaths in India due to infant respiratory distress syndrome.

Innovating to improve women’s and children’s health

India

For less than $100, poor, pregnant women in India can now give birth in a private hospital focusing on low-income families, with comparable quality to expensive, private ones. This is an alternative to overcrowded, poorly staffed government-funded hospitals

India: Overburdened hospitals in Orissa fail to deliver

India

Plan to upgrade PHCs have failed, increasing burden on district hospitals manifold

Global study finds newborns struggle to survive

Nigeria, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Pakistan

 Fewer newborn babies are dying worldwide, but progress is too slow and Africa is being left behind, said a global study led by the World Health Organization

S Asian Nations beat India on health indices

India

 India fares poorly in basic health indicators than its South Asian neighbors with the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) (per thousands live births) being 34 and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at 50.