JEDDAH, 2 January — A woman disappeared with her two-day-old baby from a government hospital here, press reports said yesterday quoting hospital sources. Police have launched an investigation.
The woman, who was admitted to hospital during the last stage of pregnancy, was not carrying identity papers or marriage certificates, the Okaz daily said. Neither did she bring along a male guardian, it added.
A male guardian should accompany any woman when she goes to hospital, according to regulations. However, the hospital did not insist on the woman presenting the required identification documents as she was in labor.
After the delivery, she appeared to be very nervous and behaved in a violent manner, according to the hospital staff. She attempted to run away the following day.
A second attempt succeeded the next day, when she slipped out of the hospital among a group of visitors, a source in the hospital said. Before she disappeared an old woman, who claimed she was the woman’s mother, had paid her a visit.
It was also reported that a man and a woman were waiting for her outside. A second woman in nurse’s uniform then joined them.
Dr. Othman ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Maymani, director of health affairs in the region, said a committee has been set up to investigate the incident and to see if any lapse on the part of hospital employees was responsible for the breach in security.
