Assessment of Newborn Survival in Telangana, India: Improvement Noted after the Intervention

The health of pregnant women is an integral part of human survival as life starts from the mother's womb and it is the intrauterine environment that shapes up the health of the new off- spring. Around a quarter of global neonatal deaths. According to the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) 2016 report, neonatal mortality contributes to about 70.58% of all infant deaths and about 60.5% of all under five deaths in the country. The state of Telangana has a Neonatal mortality rate of 16.8/1000 live births. The major challenge for the state of Telangana has been a stagnating Infant Mortality Rate at 27.7/1000 Live Births (National Family Health Survey-4), 70% of which is contributed by Neonatal Mortality. The common causes responsible for newborn deaths are prematurity & low birth weight (48%) , birth asphyxia& trauma (13%),pneumonia(12%),sepsis(5.4%),congenital anomalies(4%) and diarrhoea(3%). Maternal health in general and perinatal care in particular are important determinants of neonatal survival. Maternal malnutrition, inadequate antenatal care, high proportion of unsupervised home deliveries, suboptimal care during institutional deliveries and high proportion of low birth weight newborns are other factors responsible for high neonatal mortality. We need to have a well- designed programme with specific objectives and timeframes with a fast track approach to improve the Newborn survival. A well designed package of interventions, ranging from the immediate priority of providing quality neonatal services to a long term approach targeted to improve the health status of the girl child is the need of the hour. Improving quality of life, provision of universal access to healthcare, strengthening health care systems, creating perinatal/neonatal centres of excellence in all Government medical colleges are highly essential to improve newborn care. Effective utilization of Information technology to network peripheral health centers with tertiary centers will facilitate mentoring and supportive supervision for better outcomes.