Twins turned back from 3 civic hospitals, die 5 days later

MUMBAI: Premature twins from Chembur born in a private nursing home, urgently requiring ventilators and neonatal care, died five days after they were turned away from the city's three biggest public hospitals for lack of ventilators. 

Vijay Jaiswal (31), an auto-rickshaw driver, was advised by the nursing home to shift his twin daughters to a civic hospital as it lacked the kind of intensive care facilities the babies required. Besides, he found the cost of neonatal intensive care (NICU) in a private hospital unaffordable. He took twins, born on June 13, to KEM, Sion and Wadia hospitals the same day, but was sent back saying there were no neo-natal ventilators available then. He got the babies back to the nursing home, where their health deteriorated and they eventually passed away on June 18. Their treating doctor at the nursing home, who refused to be named, said the nursing home did not have adequate intensive care facilities which the babies required.