Current Challenges and Future Prospects of Neonatal Care in India

Abstract

Maternal and neonatal health is the current focus of central and state governments as well as various funding organizations. There is a lot happening in terms of expansion of secondary healthcare facilities and training of the healthcare personnel. This offers an exciting opportunity like never before, for those interested in the welfare of the newborns. Although infant and neonatal mortality rates in our country have been falling progressively, the pace has been much slower than expected, especially for neonatal mortality and we are likely to miss the Millennium Development Goals. In this article, the authors critically review the current status of neonatal health, infrastructure for neonatal care, the current national programs, the peculiar challenges we face and offer suggestions for alternative approaches to the way forward. The authors propose that neonatal care should be delivered as a continuum through an integrated district based model run by empowered District Coordination Committees with a smooth flow of referral and back-referrals between different levels of care. The prioritization and planning should be based on local data, needs and geopolitical scenario rather than a single national plan, which can provide a broad guideline. The need of the hour is to revive and make the primary care system functional and accountable while expanding and ensuring quality of special care services.

Inpatient care of small and sick newborns in healthcare facilities

“…For providing these services, three levels of newborn care have been defined in literature. 2, 9, 10, 11 The complexity of management of sick newborns has been used to define the level of care that can be provided at different healthcare facilities. The services provided at each level is a product of infrastructure, availability of skilled manpower and referral capacity of the institution.…”

“…10, 11 Assuming that the private sector may provide some proportion of these beds, the number of existing beds in the public sector SNCUs is still short of the estimates. Ultimately, each district would require additional SNCUs to cater to sick newborns.…”

Perceived Rewards of Nursing Among Christian Nursing Students in Bangalore, India

“…The WHO (2010) reported nations with the most profound nursing shortages have the highest rates of infant mortality and the poorest health outcomes. According to recent global statistics, India has the most neonatal deaths per year in the world (Bhakoo and Kumar 2013). More studies are needed to identify the perceived rewards of nursing by students and nurses from a variety of religious backgrounds.…”

Study of knowledge attitude practices and utilisation of existing health services by families with regard to newborn health at block level in rural India: a community based, cross sectional, observational study

“…The relationship between socio-economic determinants and IMR/NMR is not linear as shown by Bhakoo et al, Sharma et al]. 17,20 Data from Roy et al, showed predominance of socio-economic status class 4 and 5. 14 In view of rural setting kuccha housing, overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of accessibility to safe water supply was major hurdles in almost half the families.…”