ISLAMABAD: Although home births cannot be discouraged in developing countries such as Pakistan due to the lack of resources and gynaecologists, it has been suggested that newborns be taken to a medical expert to determine the baby’s sex.

In a recent case, a child was delivered at home and was declared female, but 13 years later the child was declared male, and underwent an operation at the Polyclinic Hospital.

Polyclinic spokesperson Dr Imtiaz Hasan said the child will be operated on again in three to six months, adding that the baby was not examined by a health expert when he was born.

He suggested that parents whose children are delivered at home should visit health experts to determine the child’s gender.

The child, who is from Murree, was taken to the hospital because he felt a pain in his stomach. He was operated on by Dr Aftab Ali Malik and Dr Ehsanul Haq, and declared male.

Dr Hasan told Dawn such cases are not unexceptional.

“Whenever a baby is delivered by a trained gynaecologist, it can be confirmed at the time of the delivery whether the baby is male. If so, he will undergo a small operation,” he explained.

“However, in Pakistan a large number of deliveries are handled by midwives and other staff, so the chance that they might fail to detect any complication with the baby cannot be avoided, and sooner or later the baby’s gender will be changed.”

He said it cannot be suggested that deliveries only be handled by gynaecologists due to the shortage of doctors in the field in Pakistan.

“I can only suggest that after the baby’s delivery, the parents get their baby checked by a doctor to determine the gender. Any MBBS graduate can confirm whether the child is female or male, and in some cases the genitalia may be hidden, so they can confirm if the child would need surgery at the age of 13 or 14,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017