A 60-day-old female baby reportedly died of starvation in Old Government General Hospital (GGH) here. The baby was admitted on September 9 with septicaemia and respiratory problems, said the doctors.
The NTR District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) kept a woman and her two babies, of Kurnool district, in a Child Care Institution (CCI) one month ago.
As the health condition of the premature baby was not good, the staff of the CCI and the CWC members admitted the baby, along with her mother, in the GGH three days ago, said CWC Chairperson K. Suvartha.
GGH Deputy Superintendent Dr. Nageswara Rao told The Hindu that the baby was suffering from septicaemia with severe metabolic acidosis, and the mother was an HIV-positive patient.
“The weight of the baby was 1.5 kg at the time of admission. As there was no proper feeding the baby became very weak. Though CPR was given the infant could not recover,” said the doctors who treated her.
The body was handed over to the parents.
The mother, along with the two children (elder one aged three years), came to the CWC on August 8 and they were referred to a home, said CWC Member Y. Bhargava Ram.
Probe to be ordered
The NTR District CWC would order an inquiry on how and why the mother came to the committee one month ago, Mr. Bhargava Ram said.
“We will alert the Kurnool CWC (as the woman came from Kurnool) and take custody of the elder daughter from the woman as she is not taking care of the children,” the CWC Chairperson said.
