No reunion over health concerns

Uncertainty looms of the much-awaited meeting between the mother and her baby who survived being shot while still in the womb.

Though doctors brought the woman, Nazma Khatun, from Magura to the capital on Thursday, they did not allow her to meet her son till last night.

"The mother is sick and has breathing problems. The premature baby may be exposed to infectious diseases if we let her make contact with her baby girl," said Khawja Abdul Gofur, assistant director (admin) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The mother was brought to DMCH as doctors thought breast feeding might strengthen the baby's immune system, he said.

Doctors on Thursday feared the baby may suffer neonatal septicaemia as her platelet count has dropped to 50,000, which is supposed to be at least 1.5 lakh.

The baby's father Bacchu Bhuiyan told The Daily Star that doctors told him that the meeting would take place at the "right time".

A four-member team comprising two members each from DMCH and BSMMU was formed yesterday to oversee the baby's health, said Khawja.   

 An eight-member team is already working on the baby's treatment since she was admitted at the hospital.

Nazma was shot in the abdomen while she was eight months pregnant in a factional clash among Jubo League men on July 23 in Magura. Two people have been arrested so far in this connection.