9 newborns die in hospital in Rajasthan's Kota within hours, probe ordered

Jaipur: Nine newborns died at a state-run hospital in Kota city of Rajasthan within a few hours of their birth. The incident took place nearly a year after the same facility had hit national headlines over the deaths of an unusual number of infants.

Five of the babies died during Wednesday night and four more on Thursday at the J K Lon Hospital, the officials said. All of them were between 1-4 days old, the officials said, prompting Health Minister Raghu Sharma to order an inquiry.

Hospital Superintendent Suresh Dulara, however, claimed that the deaths were natural with no unusual or severe reason or infection.

As per the report forwarded to the Health Minister by the Kota medical college principal, three infants were brought dead to the J K Lon Hospital, as many died due to congenital malformations and the rest were sudden infant deaths, according to a statement.

Divisional Commissioner KC Meena and District Collector Ujjawal Rathore visited the hospital on Thursday evening and held a meeting. Meena directed the health authorities to immediately deploy six extra doctors and 10 nurses to monitor the situation and start a newly-constructed ward by Friday.

Sharma asked the officials to conduct a primary inquiry into the matter and sought a report. He has directed the principals of all medical colleges in the state to take special care towards the treatment of newborns.

In December 2019, over 100 infants died at the hospital, triggering a huge furore.