ILL-EQUIPPED: The Vani Vilas hospital in Bangalore. — Photo: K Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: After running out to buy sweets to celebrate the birth of her grandson, the last thing that 52-year-old Zaheera expected to hear on her return was that the new-born was ill.

The long-awaited birth of her grandson, which had brought immense joy to Ms. Zaheera and her 25-year-old daughter, Gulab, a few hours earlier quickly descended into grief as doctors at Vani Vilas Children's Hospital told her that the child was critically ill. They child had swallowed faeces when it was in the womb, and as a result was finding it hard to breathe. Doctors said that it would need a ventilator for survival.

As the only ventilator in the hospital was occupied, the authorities advised her to shift the child to another hospital. This was too much for Ms. Zaheera. She said that the family could not afford to take the child to a private hospital for treatment. "Oh Allah! What did we do wrong to deserve this punishment?" she said.

This is Ms. Gulab's third child. Her first was a girl. Her second died shortly after birth, and the absence of a ventilator could endanger the new-born child too.

Ms. Gulab's plight is not the only case. Of the 1,000 deliveries that take place in the hospital every month, at least 40 children require interventional treatment such as oxygen or ventilator support. "We try and stabilise the child's condition so that the parents can take them to another hospital for treatment. But, it is tough and we are not always successful," said a senior neonataologist on the condition of anonymity.

The neonatologist admitted that often the sick children die because they do not get the required medical care in time. "We are not able to provide it and the parents are too poor to go to a private clinic."

At government hospitals such as Vani Vilas and Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, emergency care for children is a troublesome issue — ventilators are in short supply and some do not work well. A duty doctor, who did not want to be named, said that some of the ventilators were so old that sometimes they do not function. The nurses and doctors at the ICU are always put on alert to handle such emergencies," he said.

Another problem is that hospitals do not have some of the equipment that go with ventilator support. The Government is looking at the Rs. 100 crore grant from the Union Government as a solution to the problems. "We have written the requirement for ventilators to the Government.

Once we get it, we will able to take care of complicated deliveries better," M.L. Siddaraju, Superintendent of Vani Vilas Children's Hospital, said.

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