Mother, her unborn child die in 'wrong treatment'

A woman and her unborn baby died allegedly due to wrong treatment administered by doctors at New Popular Hospital, a private hospital, in Fatullah of Narayanganj yesterday. However, the doctor, under whom the surgery was conducted, blamed the patient's husband for the deaths.

Afterwards, relatives of the dead-- Shilpi Akter, 32, wife of Alamgir Hossain of Delpara area in Purba Fatullah-- ransacked the hospital.

Police detained the hospital's four owners, a doctor and a nurse over the incident.

The detainees are owners Mojibur Rahman, Masum Ahmed, Ahmed Ali Khan and Qamrun Nahar, and medical officer Jamil Ahmed and nurse Surma Begum.

Quoting husband Alamgir, Sub-Inspector (SI) of Fatullah Police Station Didarul Alam said Shilpi Akter was around five months pregnant at the time of her death.  She began feeling unwell on Thursday afternoon and was brought to the hospital where she was examined by Jessica Rizvi Tamanna.

She was then admitted to the hospital.

Alamgir claimed that on Friday morning, hospital authorities told Alamgir that his wife needed to have a c-section and that he needed to bring the required blood by Saturday morning. However, the doctor's decided to go ahead with the operation without getting the blood or the family's consent.

Both mother and child died after the operation. 

Shilpi's relatives then alleged wrong treatment by doctors. They then ransacked the hospital. On information, police went to the hospital and brought the situation under control.

Speaking to The Daily Star over phone, Jessica claimed that a normal delivery was her first course of action as the mother had two previous c-sections. However, as her condition deteriorated, she suggested that Shilpi be taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

She then claimed that Alamgir refused to do so and said that he would arrange the four bags of blood needed so the operation could be performed at New Popular Hospital.

Alamgir could only get one bag of blood and Shilpi eventually died due to blood loss, Jessica alleged.

Denying allegations that the operation was conducted without consent, Jessica said she had Alamgir's permission and he was the one who insisted that the surgery be conducted at New Popular Hospital.

However, Alamgir denied the accusations and said he took Shilpi to DMCH after he was told to do so following the operation but the on-duty nurse declared her dead.

He also said he was never told to bring four bags of blood or even when the operation would take place.

The doctors claimed that the patient's condition was critical and she died during operation, the SI said, quoting the detainees. Police are investigatings the incident and legal action will be taken as needed, he added.