Nashik civil hospital uses colour-coded bedsheets to protect newborns from infection

Nashik Civil hospital's Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) is using colour-coded bedsheets for each day of the week to protect the newborns from getting any infection.

This is being done to ensure that the bedsheets have been washed and sterilised by autoclave. There are even separate mops and buckets for each cubicle.

In a larger context, the colour-coded bedsheets are used to achieve the goal set by Maharashtra's health department to bring down neonatal mortality rate to single digits.

The data from Sample Registration System (SRS) in Maharashtra in 2017, shows that the Infant Mortality rate (IMR) has reduced to 19 per 1,000 live births. It was 33 per 1,000 live births in 2008. The Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) has declined from 24 per 1,000 live births in 2008 to 13 in 2017, and the state comes a close third after Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to ANI, Pankaj Gajare, in charge of SNCU, Nashik's Civil Hospital, said, "We use dark green bed-sheets on Monday, dark blue on Tuesday, pink on Wednesday, maroon on Thursday, saffron on Friday, light-green on Saturday and light-blue on Sunday. We do not repeat bed-sheets for infants for even a day."

According to reports, Nashik Civil Hospital has received as many as 18 swine flu patients so far this month, which has turned out to be a cause of concern, and extra care is being taken to protect the children.

"As it has been raining since last week so we have been facing difficulty in doing autoclave and that is why today we used saffron colour bedsheets instead of green," he added.