Every third child born in India premature: Mumbai doctors
Mumbai:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Every third child born in India is premature, said neonatologists in Mumbai while stressing on the need to check this trend by improving the nutrition of young women.
Neonatology ForumMumbai's president Dr Kishore Sanghvi said, “It is estimated that 3.6 million premature births took place in India in 2010. India is the biggest contributor to the world's prematurity burden.“

He was speaking at a function held on Saturday to observe World Prematurity Day and highlight the need for better care for premature babies. Statistics provided by the NNF and the Indian Foundation of Premature Babies show that 25% of all neonatal deaths in the wo-rld occur in India. Neonatologist Dr Nandkishore Kabra said, “If we can control three factors, including infection among neonates, the death rate will come down drastically by 90%.'' Doctors said a social overhaul is needed to change the statistics. “One way to break this cycle would be to start focusing on the girl child,'' said head of the neonatalogy department of BMC-run Sion Hospital, Dr Jayashree Mondkar. If women are taught well and focus on their nutrition, the mortality associated with premature births would decrease. Today's women lead a stressed life and many work until late.Their nutrition is often neglected. These factors play an important role when it comes to preterm babies.Moreover, today women have their first kid after 30, which also is one of the reasons for preterm babies,“ said Dr Mondkar.

BMC-run KEM Hospital's head of neonatology department Dr Ruchi Nanavati pointed out that ne-arly 60 to 70% of the Indian women are anaemic and need “better nutrition to prevent them from having preterm babies“(COURSTEY TIMES OF INDIA NOV 22)