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Chennai

Better equipped centres for expectant mothers

With increased awareness on infant and maternal mortality even in rural pockets of the State, more expectant mothers are now opting for large government facilities to have their babies, resulting in a dip in deliveries conducted at Primary Health Centres (PHCs). Against this backdrop, the State is developing more centres of excellence in district hospitals.

migrator

Chennai

“The drop in PHCs is mainly because people now opt for hospitals with better facilities for deliveries,” said Dr K Kolandaisamy, Director, Department of Public Health. Stating that the average deliveries in the State’s PHCs have come down from around 15–16 in 2011 to just 4.7 to 5.16 this year, Kolandaisamy stressed that overall deliveries in government hospitals are, however, on the rise.

“The process of delivery started at home many years ago. However, families now seek to ensure that facilities at hospitals and PHCs are adequate. Taking this into consideration, we are developing centres of excellence in district headquartered hospitals as well as Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and New Born Care (CEmONC) Centres and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU),” he said. While there are cases of families approaching PHCs, doctors there refer them to CEmONC and NICU centres as they are in a nascent stage. “We now plan to invest in increasing beds to 200 in the centres.”

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