MADINAH, 6 August 2006 — Joy turned into sorrow when a mother who had just given birth died after being given the wrong blood type following a Caesarean section, the daily Al-Watan reported yesterday.

The pregnant woman, identified as Najat, and her family had traveled from Taif to Madinah to attend a wedding.

The woman gave birth during this trip on Thursday at Safa Al-Madinah private hospital.

The husband, Ali Omar, said he took his wife to the hospital for a check-up because she was in her last month of pregnancy. Doctors there decided to give birth by Caesarean section. The newborn, a baby girl, was born healthy.

The woman’s health deteriorated and the doctors decided she needed blood, but mistakenly gave the woman type AB blood instead of type O.

When the woman began to show the fatal effects of being given the wrong blood type, doctors decided to transfer her to a government hospital nearby which had better facilities. She died upon arrival at the hospital.

The family, which cancelled the wedding and had a funeral instead, blames the hospital for negligence that left the mother of four children dead.

Muhammad Balahmar, the brother of the woman, accused the hospital staff of trying to cover up the mistake, according to Al-Watan.

“When we ask the hospital about the problem, they keep telling us that it was because of the anesthetic,” he said, claiming that his sister’s blood type was clearly stated on the file hanging from the patient’s bed as well as clearly marked as a different type on the bag of blood.

Balahmar says the hospital staff played the blame game and nobody was willing to take responsibility for the fatal error. The family is calling for an investigation in order to determine who was responsible for the medical mistake.

Najat was buried on Friday and the family is pursuing a lawsuit.

Blind With Anger, Father Hits Boy in the Eye

An Arab expatriate working in the southern city of Jizan recently blinded his son when he struck him in the face.

The man was angry because the boy did not obey him. An emergency operation at a cost of SR10,000 had to be carried out on the damaged retina. The incident occurred as the son who was playing made loud noises near his father who was working.

The enraged father took a hose and struck him in the face with all his force. The boy is being treated at Jizan General Hospital, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday.