Around 25,000 babies born during 1st week of curfew in Punjab: Minister

Around 25,000 babies were born in Punjab hospitals during the first week of the curfew imposed to check the coronavirus spread, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said here on Thursday.

"In the month of March, about 32,000 pregnant women had registered for the antenatal check-up and nearly 25,000 deliveries took place at both government and private hospitals in the state," the minister said.

Punjab had clamped the curfew on March 23 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sidhu said about 99 per cent of the deliveries were institutional.

Fifty-eight per cent of them took place in government hospitals and 41 per cent in private ones, he said.

The maximum 3,000 deliveries took place in Ludhiana followed by Amritsar (2,550), Patiala (2,000), Bathinda (1,690), Gurdaspur (1,330), Sangrur (1,300) and Hoshiarpur (1,300), he said.

After the curfew was imposed in Punjab, directions were given to all civil surgeons to ensure that pregnant women and children do not suffer.

"The essential services, including immunisation, are being provided at all government facilities round the clock for pregnant women and children," he said.