Child births have to be administered at health centres to prevent birth-related problems of newborns and reduce the country's infant mortality rate, experts said yesterday.
If any family cannot afford health centres for child birth, they need to engage skilled attendants such as midwives during the birth, they said at a roundtable discussion.
The parents must be extra cautious during the first 24 hours. After a child is born, the infant should be given intensive care, kept in skin-to-skin contact with the mother and given breast milk within an hour of its birth, they added.
Bangla daily Prothom Alo in association with Unicef Bangladesh organised the roundtable titled “every infant should be alive” at its office in the capital.
Noted neonatologist Prof Mohammod Shahidullah said infant mortality rate has reduced remarkably in the country in recent years, but around 62,000 newborn babies still die every year, contributing to 60 percent of total child deaths.
Of them, about 73 percent die at home due to various sicknesses including preterm birth complexities, infection and asphyxia, he said, adding that half of the deaths occur within 24 hours of the birth.
Therefore, child births should be administered at health centres such as hospitals and community clinics or at home, assisted by skilled midwives, said Prof Shahidullah, also former pro-vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
“We want every child to be safe and alive. So, we have to continue to build awareness among the people about risks of infant mortality,” he said.
Ziaul Matin, a health manager at Unicef Bangladesh, said the rate of stillbirth is almost the same as that of infant mortality. “If we want to prevent it, the mothers need to be provided quality services during [child] deliveries,” he said.
Speaking as the chief guest, Health and Family Welfare State Minister Zahid Maleque said child marriages need to be prevented and malnutrition eradicated as these are major reasons for low-weight births. “Our health coverage has increased. Now we have to ensure quality.”
Prof Abul Kalam Azad, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, said to ensure quality service, health care providers like doctors and nurses have to be more cordial with patients.
Abdul Quayum, associate editor of Prothom Alo; Abdul Mannan, chairman of neonatology department of BSMMU; Maya Vandenent, chief of health at Unicef Bangladesh; Khaleda Islam, a programme director of the health ministry; and Firoza Begum, general secretary of Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh; also spoke.
