Campinas investigates the death of 3 babies in a maternity ICU – 02/25/2023 – Health

The Health Secretariat of Campinas (SP) is investigating the death of three babies who were hospitalized in the neonatal ICU of the Hospital Maternidade, a philanthropic institution responsible for 40% of births in the municipality, with 60% of the care provided by the SUS.

The cause of death is being investigated, but, according to a note from the secretariat, it may be related to an outbreak of diarrhea that occurred at the maternity hospital between the 6th and 9th of February, but which has since been controlled. The state of São Paulo has registered outbreaks of diarrheal diseases since the beginning of the year.

In that period, 17 newborns admitted to the ICU (Intermediate Care Unit (ICU) were contaminated, and ten needed to go to the neonatal ICU. Of these, three died, eight were discharged, and the rest remained hospitalized.

In a press release, the maternity hospital refuted the department’s information that the deaths are related to the diarrheal outbreak, saying that the cases are being investigated and that it cannot provide information about the patients for reasons of professional secrecy.

“It is worth remembering, however, that the Neonatal ICU serves newborns from 390 grams, with malformations and other comorbidities, being a reference for extreme prematurity”, says an excerpt from the statement.

On February 16, half of the neonatal ICU beds at the maternity hospital were banned by the municipality’s Health Surveillance Department due to an insufficient number of professionals to care for the babies.

According to the secretariat, this shortage has generated infraction notices for the entity since the end of 2022. The maternity is authorized to operate with 20 beds, but, last Thursday (23), there were 31 babies in the neonatal ICU, which generated one more assessment.

In a note, the maternity hospital expressed surprise at the assessment, claiming that there is overcrowding of beds because the public service (state and municipality) did not have the capacity to transfer newborns to other units associated with the SUS.

“Without the designation of the place by the Regulation Center [do governo do estado, operacionalizada pela prefeitura de Campinas] where to transfer them, the maternity cannot simply remove the babies from their ICU or discharge those who continue to need intensive care”, says the statement.

He also says that between February 23 and 24 there were two discharges, which would reduce, in principle, the number of hospitalized babies, but that, at the same time, he attended two emergencies, whose babies needed places in the ICU.

“By ethical, moral and legal principle, pregnant women and babies received all the appropriate and necessary medical care for newborns, premature babies, who needed to be admitted to the ICU, even with the number of beds occupied being higher than determined by the Health Surveillance .”

The maternity hospital recognizes the small number of horizontal medical professionals (who make daily visits) and physiotherapists to serve the 36 ICU beds. The institution has around 30 professionals for a shift of 240 monthly shifts.

The current need would be for two more doctors with specialization in neonatology for the daily shifts on the horizontalist scale —today there are two doctors in this function, with a stay of only four hours.

The hospital’s management says that “there are no professionals available on the market and that hiring was already and remains open to interested parties”. The institution is also facing a serious financial crisis and has filed for judicial recovery, which is being processed by the 10th Civil Court of Campinas.

In a statement this Friday (24), the Health Department says it is negotiating with the maternity hospital to maintain the number of beds needed to guarantee access to all pregnant women and their babies, while monitoring and assessing the situation on a daily basis. care of patients and health conditions

It also informs that it is transferring to Caism (Center for Integral Attention to Women’s Health), from Unicamp, and to the PUC hospital in Campinas, pregnant women at risk of premature birth. At birth, the babies will already be admitted to the ICUs of these hospitals.

In all, Campinas has 35 neonatal ICU beds at the PUC Maternity and Hospital. In 2022, through SUS Campinas, 7,458 children were born.

According to the secretariat, the number of beds is sufficient to meet the needs of the population of the municipality, in accordance with the ministerial ordinance that establishes 2 beds for every 1,000 live births and with the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, which establishes 4 beds for every 1,000 births. alive.

However, the renovation of neonatal beds at Unicamp’s Caism, which began in the second half of 2021, has overloaded municipal beds, according to the folder.

“The Campinas Health Secretariat is in contact with the State Secretariat [de Saúde] in search of a solution, so far without success” says the note.