This article from Dominican Republic looks at the deaths of 16 newborns at a public hospital. According to investigations done for this incident, some areas of the hospital were unsanitary and that 4 babies had the same strain of bacteria in their systems but is not definitive if it was indeed the cause of death for the infants. On the other hand, premature delivery is one cause they are looking at since most of the newborns who died are born prematurely.
Whether its premature births or infection from unsanitary practices, this comes down to one thing- that health professionals should be extra vigilant in caring for the newborns. In this day and age where the necessary technology and processes are already available to sustain the life of a prematurely delivered child, deaths from premature births have remarkably decreased but these equipment do not work on its own. It is still up to us, the medical professionals providing care for these newborns, to go the extra mile and do that we can for them even after the child is already able to survive without the use of supportive equipment through close assessment, monitoring and provision of a safe environment for the child.
Also, this serves as a wake up call to everyone in a medical facility not to take the simple measures for disinfection like hand washing, for granted. Honestly, how many nurses still practice the regimen of washing their hands every after handling patients and not merely relying on sanitizing hand gels and solutions? Keeping waste in their designated disposal containers especially infectious materials and strictly adhering to regimented infection control and isolation procedures are things that are already there, we just need to religiously follow them. Simple practices like this can benefit not only us,but our patients and also our families because we don’t allow ourselves to be vectors for infection and we make sure that what we come in contact with in the hospital will not be brought home to our loved ones.
