Just 37 km stand between newborn’s life and death

Juhu resident Ganesh More has been visiting public hospitals for over a fortnight to save his newborn son Born prematurely at just 31 weeks on June 29 his baby weighs 11 kilograms and needs urgent specialised care But finding just one neonatal intensive care unit NICU bed is proving a Herculean heartbreaking task for More The child is receiving treatment at the private Howard Newborn Centre in Malad and the family has spent over Rs 6 lakh on his medical expenses so far but are unsure how they will continue to ensure their childrsquos survivalI never thought that the condition of our civic hospitals was so bad I had always heard that civic hospitals were always running at full capacity But now that I am experiencing the same it shows how much the system needs to be improvedrdquo said GaneshGanesh and Asmita More in 2021 PICBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTSharing her ordeal the babyrsquos 24yearold mother Asmita More said ldquoWe have sold all the gold that we had including my mangalsutra because thats how bad the situation is I just want my child to get well soon and live a healthy liferdquo An approximate expenditure letter provided by Howard Newborn Centre on July 4 a copy of which is in middayrsquos possession states that the child will need to be kept at the hospital for another eight to 10 weeks the projected cost of which is Rs 1750000 As per the letter this amount includes the cost of five to six weeks of hospital stay and ventilator CPAP continuous positive airway pressure bed nursing and doctors charges Further it includes hospital stay without ventilation for the remaining weeks the cost of laboratory investigations disposables medication and surgery chargesldquoOf the Rs 6 lakh that we have spent so far my brother gave me Rs 2 lakh senior colleagues arranged a few thousand and my company gave me Rs 50000 other relatives gave me Rs 50000 and the rest we arranged by selling off all our gold Now we are out of all monetary resources and our baby needs intensive care for almost three more months We do not know how to finance his treatment furtherrdquo said Ganesh a peon employed by a private firmAsmita and Ganesh More in happier times PICBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTGanesh has been continuously visiting government hospitals but the only response that he has gotten is ldquoSorry but beds are not availablerdquo ldquoWhen we visited Wadia Hospital they said that itrsquos better to keep the baby at the same private hospital as he had undergone an operation exploratory laparotomy with wedge anastomosis and requires roundtheclock nursing They also did not have a bed available as the waiting list is quite longrdquo said GaneshWhen midday reached out to government hospitals that have NICU facilities Dr Minnie Bodhanwala CEO Wadia Group of Hospitals said ldquoThe number of cases requiring neonatal care has increased in the past decade This is not just because more children are getting sick or more premature births are taking place but because medical science has advanced and now more people are aware of these treatments which brings the parents to hospitals in the hope of saving their child Our beds are full as we already have a huge waiting listrdquoThe Howard Newborn Centre in Malad West where the child is undergoing treatment PICRITIKA GONDHALEKARWhen Ganesh had gone to KEM Hospital he was told ldquoThe beds are full and we need to prioritise cases where babies were born at KEM Hospital Only when there are no such cases beds become available which is very rarerdquo KEM Dean Dr Sangeeta Rawat however told midday to contact the hospital on Monday July 14 to check if a transfer is possibleA ray of hope0n July 13 when midday called up Cama Hospital located 37 km away from Howard Newborn Centre in Malad Medical Superintendent Dr Tushar Palve was kind enough to help ldquoWhen we had visited Cama Hospital on July 4 they told us that beds were not available They took my contact details and said they would inform me when a bed was available We kept waiting but that call never came It was only on Sunday evening when midday called and informed me that a bed was available that we received some hoperdquo said GaneshPalve said ldquoThe NICU is always occupied as there are only a few government hospitals in Mumbai that provide these facilities Luckily a bed became available on the night of July 12 and you called me on the afternoon of July 13 which is why I could be of help We have spoken with the doctors at the Howard Newborn Centre However since it was late at night the doctors there have suggested moving the baby in the morning considering that the child will require an ambulance with a ventilatorrdquoThe twistThe Howard Centre does not have a neonatal transport ambulance a vehicle equipped with lifesaving equipment and a trained team to handle such critical transfers ldquoThe baby canrsquot be moved without a neonatal ventilator and expert staff Hersquos too fragile Without proper transfer he wonrsquot survive the journey according to doctors Also transferring our son will require a team of specialised doctors who are to accompany us throughout the journey Neither hospital has the manpower for this said GaneshCouple in a fixldquoNow the doctors have said that they will start keeping the baby off the ventilator for short periods throughout the day and see if he can breathe on his own They have said that it will at least take one week for him to come out of the woods We are running out of money though and we dont know if the bed at Cama Hospital will stay available Now all we can do is pray that he survives and we get some helprdquo said GaneshRs 1750000Approximate cost of continuing private treatment of child