MAKKAH: A husband, who helped his wife naturally deliver a baby girl, was still charged the fee required by the hospital even though the doctor did nothing to help.

The man would not be given the baby’s birth certificate unless he paid SR3,500, the fee for natural childbirth, although the wife had been left suffering even when it was clear that she was about to deliver naturally, which made him decide to help with the delivery, he told Sabq.

“At the beginning, my wife and I, and our children, went to a private hospital in Makkah, as she was suffering from labor pains. When we reached there, I paid the medical examination invoice.” The man paid SR1,700 for the tests and the surgery.

“The doctor came to check on my wife, and reported that she was about to give birth naturally. Another doctor came to check on my wife again and said that a natural birth was impossible, and that he would have to perform a caesarean delivery.”

“When we asked the doctor the reasons, he said that was his job and they knew her case. The doctor went, leaving my wife screaming in the observation room. An hour later, she felt contractions and I called for a doctor. The doctor came, took a look and went back without doing anything. No mercy, no humanity.”

“Then I took upon myself to help my wife give birth amid the screams of my children around me. I screamed loudly and called for the assistance of the nurses to cut the umbilical cord.”

“I went the next day to get the birth certificate. They asked me to pay SR3,500 for the natural childbirth, even though the doctor had done nothing. I played his role after the suffering of my wife at the time of birth.”

The father submitted an official complaint to the director of the hospital who said he will investigate the matter. After three days, the director said he will not give the father a birth certificate unless he paid the sum charged for natural birth, “ignoring my complaint.”

The man called on Health Ministry officials in Makkah for justice and to charge the hospital and the doctor for psychological, moral and physical damage to his wife for not performing the delivery.