Reunion kept in wait
The condition of the newborn, Suraiya, who received a bullet while in her mother's womb, is stable, doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) said yesterday.
Her mother Nazma Khatun's health has improved a little, they added.
"We fed the baby 2 millilitres of breast milk every three hours, collecting from her mother on Friday and increased it to 5 ml today (Saturday) as the baby could tolerate it. This is a positive sign," said Ashraf-Ul-Huq, head of the pediatric surgery department of the hospital.
The mother is yet to meet her daughter after being shifted to DMCH from a Magura hospital on Thursday, as the baby, now being treated at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), is susceptible to septicaemia for her low birth weight, doctors said.
Meanwhile, 10 days have gone since the attack but the police could not arrest anyone involved.
The baby suffered bullet injuries when her eight-month pregnant mother was shot in the abdomen during an attack by a Jubo League faction on another faction on July 23 in Magura, which left one killed and another person injured.
The bullet pierced through the unborn baby's right shoulder and injured her right eye. Miraculously though, she survived after a two-hour Caesarean on her 35-year-old mother at Magura General Hospital.
The baby was sent to DMCH on July 26 without her mother, as her situation was critical.
As advised by doctors, the mother was brought to DMCH from the Magura hospital to feed her baby breast milk, as the newborn needs it to survive.
Meanwhile, two other physicians joined the medical board working to save Suraiya at DMCH, raising the number of board members to ten.
The newborn is being treated for her jaundice, said Kaniz Hasina of the pediatric surgery department.
NICU does not have the facility to keep the mother and the baby together. “The baby has a risk of being exposed to infection as she had low birth weight and is suffering from bullet injuries. So we can't take her to her mother's ward," she added.
Another medical board led by Nilufar Sultan of the gynecology department and comprised of physicians from cardiology, medicine and surgery departments, examined the mother and said her condition was stable too, Ashraf said.
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