HARIPUR: A pregnant woman and her unborn baby died at the District Headquarters Hospital here the other day prompting her family to stage a protest.

The family members alleged that the death occurred as the doctors committed negligence in the handling of the case. Mohammad Asif of Khalabat Township claimed that he brought his daughter, Tahzeem Bibi, 24, with matured pregnancy to the gynaecology ward on Tuesday morning.

He said the staff admitted her for delivery but no doctor visited her until 8 in the evening when her condition worsened prompting her shifting to the operation theater and that, too, after the family’s protest.

The complainant said his daughter and her unborn baby died as the doctors unnecessarily delayed the handling of the case.

The family demanded the registration of a murder case against the relevant hospital staff over death. The guards, however, drove them out of the building.

When contacted, medical superintendent of the hospital Dr Saifullah Khalid declared the case ‘high-risk’ one and claimed the doctors waited for a normal delivery but after realising that a surgery was required, they shifted the woman to the operation theater but the woman died before undergoing the procedure. He said, however, an inquiry committee had been formed.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019