Two-month-old girl dies after chocking on Ragi malt

Bengaluru: A two- month old baby died after getting choked from food stuck in her throat. The incident took place in Hosapalya village near Magadi in Ramanagara district on Wednesday.

The baby was the first child of Manjunath and Dhanalakshmi, residing in Karenahalli. Manjunath is a farmer.

According to the police sources, the reason for the baby girl’s death is the ignorance about infant feeding habits which was advised to the parents by some relatives to feed the baby ragi malt instead of breast milk. The baby would vomit every time she was fed ragi malt. But on the morning of Wednesday when she was fed ragi malt, the malt got stuck in her throat. The baby found difficulties in breathing and was immediately taken to Magadi taluk government hospital. The baby was declared brought dead by the hospital.

Taluk hospital doctor Jnanaprakash said that babies can only digest other food items once they are six months old. The best substitute for breast milk is to feed cow milk. Any other kind of food is dangerous. The baby died as a result of ragi malt stuck in her throat and blocked the respiratory system.

According to Dr Ranjan Pejaver, a city-based neonatologist, the baby may have died due to aspiration, which occurs when food in any form enters the airway or lungs. He also added that this incident could have happened even with milk or water that’s why substituting breast milk should be avoided.