Bengaluru, Jul 10 (DHNS): Two more newborns died at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital late on Wednesday night, taking the toll of such deaths to four.

On Wednesday morning, two babies had died of suspected infection, creating panic among the parents of other newborns in NICU. They immediately shifted their babies to other hospitals.

Of the four babies that continued to remain in the NICU, two died late in the night, doctors said. There was chaos at the hospital when the death of the two other newborns came to light. An argument ensued between the agitated parents and doctors. Rajesh and Rekha, a couple from Yelahanka, and Devraj and Bhagya Lakshmi of Kalaburagi lost their babies. The parents blamed medical negligence for the death.

However, Dr Nisarga, head of the pediatrics department, said that babies died of various complications and not due to infection. “Bhagya’s child was weighing 2.5 kg. However, the mother had diabetes which led to complications in the neonate. Rekha’s child also suffered low birthweight and some genetic disorders. This was the reason for death. We have trained specialists and it is our target to have the children recover in a month’s time. It is unfortunate that incidents like these are instilling fear in the mind of people,” he added.

Rajesh claimed that they were informed of their child’s death late. “We suspect that the child had died by Wednesday evening. However, as there was chaos, the doctors did not want to reveal it to us. My wife delivered the child on July 3 and underwent a C Section. We were told that the child’s condition was critical and was put into the NICU. Till Wednesday morning, the child was fine. How can the death occur suddenly,” he questioned.

This year, out of 517 infants admitted to the NICU at the KIMS, 18 have died till the end of June, a doctor from the hospital said.