Hospital under probe after babies suffocate

The office of Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Tororo and police are investigating circumstances under which two babies died in an incubator at Tororo Regional Referral Hospital.

The deputy RDC, Mr Albert Amula, who led a team of district leaders to the government hospital on Wednesday, was shocked to learn that the daytime deaths occurred as a result of alleged negligence by the medical workers attached to the neonatal unit.

“We have commenced investigations to expose and hold responsible the officer (s) who were supposed to be on duty but absented themselves. We want to ascertain circumstances that led to the death of two babies,’’ he said.

Sources said the two babies  suffocated after the nurse who was supposed to be on duty failed to turn up on Wednesday morning.

One of the parents, who preferred anonymity, told journalists that she witnessed her baby boy die in the incubator.

“I could not save him because I did not have any knowledge on how to remove him from the incubator,” she said.

The mother said the babies stayed on oxygen for the whole day after the nurse who worked on night shift left, and told parents that her colleague, who was meant to work on day shift, was coming to take charge.

“ l’m optimistic that my baby would have survived if I went elsewhere to deliver,” she said.

Mr John Opolot, another patient at the hospital, said investigating arms of the government should take interest in the matter and bring the culprits to book.

“The situation at the hospital worsened during the festive season. Health workers who are supposed to work on day shift only appear at 11am and disappear at 3pm, leaving the patients in the hands of interns and volunteering nurses,” he said.

Dr Thomas Ochar, the hospital medical superintendent, apologised to the parents, who lost their babies, adding that they would do an audit on the alleged deaths and take appropriate action.

However Dr Ochar called upon the district and Ministry of Health to address staff shortage at the hospital.

He said the maternity wing where the neonatal unit falls has only seven nurses. He said two nurses on the day the babies died had lost their relatives while ‘‘the one who was to work on day shift failed to turn up” .

Dr Ochar added: “We have limited staff and yet the neonatal unit requires full time attention.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 13.4 million babies were born too early (before 37 weeks of gestation) in 2020.  It said about 900,000 children died in 2019 of complications of preterm birth and many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems.

WHO said 303,000 women died from pregnancy related cases globally in 2015 and that 2.7 million babies died during the first 28 days of life and 2.6 million babies were still born.

In March 2021, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics reported that the maternal mortality rate dropped from 438 deaths per 100,000 births in 2020 to 368 deaths per 100,000 live births.

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