The baby’s mother, Amal, has accused the hospital of negligence. “Amal said she had to deliver the baby in the hallway of the emergency room because she was denied a bed,” said the woman’s husband, Ibrahim Al-Anazi.
The Ministry of Health will take action once it receives the report on the matter.
The death, which happened on Oct. 17, has received considerable attention in the local media. Al-Anazi lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Health and other government departments demanding justice. “The hospital sent her out without checking her or the fetus’ condition and she had to give birth to the baby in a corridor,” he said.
Denying the charges against the hospital, Khaled bin Yousuf Seebeh, spokesman for the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, said tests showed the fetus was 36 weeks old and was not fully-grown.
“Since the woman needed a special bed for a premature baby, the duty nurse informed the husband to ask the hospital director to make necessary arrangements either to transfer the woman to another hospital or provide a bed in the special ward for prematurely born babies,” Seebeh said.
The official added that the nurse returned to the diagnosis room to check the condition of Amal, but she was already inside the labor room in the ER ward, not in the hallway as claimed by the husband. On finding Amal in labor, the nurse instantly called other nurses and doctors for help. A doctor examined the mother and the baby and cut the umbilical cord in addition to administering necessary medicines. A postnatal specialist examined the baby and found it in good health. The mother and baby left hospital later,” Seebeh said.