A case of callousness

A couple of nurses and a cleaning staff member (aya) of Debidwer Upazila Health Complex were venturing something they were not supposed to do without the presence of a doctor.

It was around 1:00am on Sunday and they were trying to pull out the fetus of Fatema Begum, who was understandably in extreme pain but enduring it all for something beautiful -- motherhood.

But then something terrible happened -- the body of the fetus was severed from its head due to violent force.

With the head still in the uterus, panicked nurses rushed to Ahsanul Haq Milu, the night-shift doctor of the government health complex, and reported that the condition of the patient was critical and a normal delivery attempt had failed.

Doctor Ahsanul immediately referred the patient to Cumilla Medical College Hospital. The family members of Fatema hired an ambulance and took her to CMCH, which was about 40 kilometers from Debidwer.

Doctors at the CMCH removed the severed head after caesarean operation at around 12:30pm Sunday. The next day, Fatema, who was fighting for her life, was declared out of danger.

But this is only a small part of sufferings of Fatema, the face of an average Bangladeshi woman who has to endure it day in day out while being tended at public hospitals.

The 30-year-old wife of a rickshaw-puller was admitted to the Debidwer Upazila Health Complex on Saturday around 2:35pm under supervision of duty doctor Nila Parvin. 

“After the checkup, the doctor [Nila] said they would try for normal delivery,” Md Yusuf, Fatema's brother, told this reporter on Sunday.

But Nila Parvin, who has previously attended Fatema a number of times at a clinic where she conducts private practice, did not disclose to the family that the fetus was dead.

The doctor in question has not only conducted the ultrasonography at the privately run Debidwer Moon Diagnostic Centre on September 22 but also wrote in the comment column: fetus dead.

But this very test and its reports is quite perplexing considering the timing of its public disclosure on the following day. A previous ultrasono report dated September 12 show the fetus was alive.

Whether the fetus was alive or dead, the whole exercise with a pregnant woman was disturbing.  

“Dr Ashanul Haq and Dr Nila Parvin were not aware about this matter [what the nurses and support staff did]. Without the concern of Medical officer Dr Ashanul Haq and Dr Nila Parvin, nurses Achia, Jharna and aya Jesmin tried to do normal delivery. At that time the newborn's head was severed from the body,” said Dr Ahmed Kabir, who is the upazila health and family planning officer at Debidwer Upazila Health Complex, on Sunday.

He also said that the one aya and one member of the cleaning staff were suspended.

A three-member committee has been formed by the upazila health complex to investigate the matter. Another high-powered five-member committee formed by the district is also probing the matter.

Those responsible will face departmental action after the probe, said.

In case of a dead fetus, the standard practice is that if a normal delivery is attempted, it should be done in presence of a specialised doctor, said a gynecologist.

And if a normal delivery attempt is failed an immediate caesarian must be done.

But a critically ill Fatema was referred to another hospital far away from it.

“I am rickshaw-puller. I don't know where to complain? I took my wife to doctor Nila at the private clinic. She sent us to the Upazila Health Complex suspecting we are not capable of bearing the cost. But she did not take care of my wife. 

“Today, my wife is dying due to negligence of doctors and nurses. I want justice,” Selim Mia, Fatema's husband, told this correspondent on Sunday.