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Odisha Hospital Witnesses Mass Exodus After 23 Newborns Die In The Last 4 Days

Odisha Hospital Witnesses Mass Exodus After 23 Newborns Die In The Last 4 Days
To go with story 'Nepal-health-infants-women' by Ammu KannampillyIn this photograph taken on September 12, 2014, a Nepalese health worker applies chlorhexidine to the umbilical cord of a newborn delivered at Kohalpur Teaching Hospital in Banke District, some 500 kilometres west of Kathmandu. On a wet and windy morning, Nepalese housewife Bhumisara Upadhyay is out visiting pregnant women, on a mission to slash newborn deaths in the Himalayan nation with a simple tube of gel. Upadhyay is among thousands of volunteers at the front line of a campaign that has dramatically cut neonatal mortality in a country where nearly two-thirds of babies are born at home. AFP PHOTO / Prakash MATHEMA (Photo credit should read PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images)
PRAKASH MATHEMA via Getty Images
To go with story 'Nepal-health-infants-women' by Ammu KannampillyIn this photograph taken on September 12, 2014, a Nepalese health worker applies chlorhexidine to the umbilical cord of a newborn delivered at Kohalpur Teaching Hospital in Banke District, some 500 kilometres west of Kathmandu. On a wet and windy morning, Nepalese housewife Bhumisara Upadhyay is out visiting pregnant women, on a mission to slash newborn deaths in the Himalayan nation with a simple tube of gel. Upadhyay is among thousands of volunteers at the front line of a campaign that has dramatically cut neonatal mortality in a country where nearly two-thirds of babies are born at home. AFP PHOTO / Prakash MATHEMA (Photo credit should read PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images)

With the death of at least 23 newborns recorded in the famous Sardar Ballav Bhai Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (SVPPGIP) over the last four days in Cuttack, Odisha, many parents in town are frantic with worry.

The doctors and the hospital staff at SVPPGIP, therefore, weren't surprised when on Monday, the parents and relatives of the sick children took them to the private hospitals nearby for treatment. Being one of the biggest hospitals in the area, SVPPGIP attracts over 10,000 patients for indoor care.

While the parents and relatives of the babies allege that it was the negligence of the doctors and the hospital staff that led to the deaths of the newborns, the hospital authorities say that the conditions of the newborns were extremely critical.

Superintendent Prof Niranjan Mohanty said the doctors tried their best to revive the newborns, but failed. “All those who died were very serious patients. Most of them were newborns,” he told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the State government has ordered the Cuttack district chief medical officer (CMO) to submit a report within three weeks after making a thorough enquiry into the incident, reported The Hindu.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.