DAMMAM, 11 August 2006 — Mothers have accused the Dammam Maternity Hospital of negligence that resulted in brain damage to the babies they gave birth to in the hospital, the daily Al-Madinah reported recently.
For its part the hospital denies the allegations. One mother, who was cited only as Um Mohammed (‘Mother of Mohammed’), accused doctors of not acting quickly enough during a birth complication that resulted in oxygen deprivation of the newborn, causing irreparable brain damage.
The woman was interviewed with the child, now seven years old, at the Khobar Educational Hospital.
“He was my first child and I didn’t know anything,” said Um Mohammed. “He was continuously suffering from spasms. I visited the hospital a year after his birth and they told me that my child needed a small operation in the tongue to help him talk. They did the operation but my child did not speak. I then went to another doctor who told me the hard truth. He told me that my child was brain damaged.”
The mother complained that the doctors were unable to diagnose the newborn child with brain damage at the time of his birth. She says that she cannot afford the money to enter her son into a special educational program, which can cost SR20,000 per year.
Another woman, identified as Um Abeer, described a similar situation where due to complications during childbirth doctors performed a caesarian section. After she took him home, she discovered the child suffered from spasms and had difficulty in breathing.
“I took my baby to the Khobar Education Hospital where the doctor told me that my child suffered from lack of oxygen in the brain at birth,” she said. “She was given oxygen treatment at the hospital. But every time we leave the hospital we come back again because of my daughter’s breathing trouble. This hospital has become my house.”
Dr. Saeed Al-Ghamdi, director of the Dammam Maternity Hospital, denied in a statement any accusations of malpractice, and said mothers should formally present their evidence to the hospital in order to verify whether it was true or not.
Dr. Abdul Kareem Al-Abdul Kareem, deputy manager of health affairs in Dammam, said that any mother with a case of negligence should provide her name and the date of birth and the file number of the hospital in order for the health affairs to investigate. He said that most of the time when they investigate a claim they find no evidence of medical negligence.
“All hospitals do not release children until they are 100 percent healthy. Sometimes mothers insist that they leave without the due date specified by the hospital and in this case the hospital release the child under the responsibility of the mother,” he said.
