The employees of a rural health institution in Pakistan’s Sindh province removed the newborn baby’s head and left it inside the mother’s womb, putting the 32-year-old Hindu woman’s life in jeopardy.
The terrible tragedy prompted the Sindh government to establish a medical inquiry board to investigate the incident and identify those responsibly.
“The Hindu woman, who comes from a remote village in Tharparkar district, went to a Rural Health Centre (RHC) in her area, but because there was no female gynaecologist available, the inexperienced staff caused her immense trauma,” said Professor Raheel Sikander, who heads the gynaecology unit at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Jamshoro.
In a bungled surgery on Sunday, the RHC staff sliced off the unborn baby’s head in the mother’s womb and left it within her, he added.
When the woman was presented with a life-threatening scenario, she was brought to a neighbouring hospital in Mithi, where she was treated with no amenities. Her family eventually brought her to the LUMHS, where the newborn’s body was removed from the mother’s womb, sparing her life, he added.
The baby’s head was caught within, and the mother’s uterus had ruptured, forcing them to open up her abdomen medically and remove the head to save her life, according to Sikandar.
The shocking failure caused Sindh Health Services Director General Dr Juman Bahoto to launch separate investigations into the case.
He stated that the investigation committees will look into what happened, particularly the lack of a gynaecologist and female personnel at the RHC in Chachro.
The inquiry panels will also examine into accusations that the woman was forced to have her video shot while laying on a stretcher, causing her trauma.
“Apparently, several members of the staff grabbed her pictures on their phones in the gynaecology ward and shared them with other WhatsApp groups,” Dr Juman Bahoto stated.
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