A hospital in Malda District of West Bengal reported high infant mortality rate in a short period of time. Over the last two days, the infant deaths reported there is as high as 9. Hospital authorities claim that they have been doing their best to avoid infant deaths and these deaths were not caused due to the negligence of the hospital authorities. Six deaths were reported on Wednesday, 9th November 2011 and three more deaths were reported on Thursday, 10th November 2011. According to the hospital authorities, of the three infants that died during the day, one suffered from Septicaemia, another had low birth-weight and the third was an instance of an intra-uterine death (dead during delivery). Reports by various NGO’s show that the health condition in West Bengal has been deteriorating since the past one year. Malnutrition and lack of good healthcare facilities is considered to be the key reason behind these infant deaths. The hospital authorities’ report that the mother’s bought in for delivery were in bad condition. The district authorities were trying their best to set up a Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) in the district as soon as possible. Over the past one month a large number of crib deaths were reported from other hospitals too like the, Dr. B.C. Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences and the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal.

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