Saudi Gazette report NAJRAN — A Saudi citizen has accused the Maternity and Children Hospital of giving him a mentally and physically disabled baby girl instead of a healthy baby boy. Al-Hadi Al-Fitaih told Makkah on Tuesday that the hospital also conducted a Caesarian operation on his wife without his approval. He alleged that the hospital informed him that his wife had given birth to a baby boy but 10 days later they changed their story and told him it was a girl. He said his wife was transferred from Yadamah Hospital to the maternity hospital on Jan. 14 when she went into labor. He said: “The next day the hospital told me that my wife had a Caesarian operation that I had rejected from the beginning but accepted only when they informed me that she had given birth to a baby boy.” Al-Fitaih said he was extremely happy and named his boy Salim. He recalled that four days later his wife was discharged from hospital but the baby was kept in the incubator. He said: “Ten days later I had the shock of my life. “The hospital called me to tell me that the baby was a girl and disabled and not a healthy boy as they had informed me earlier.” He said the hospital called him to come and settle the matter but he refused and insisted they give him the correct baby. Al-Fitaih called on the authorities to discipline the hospital staff responsible for the alleged error and also for causing him and his wife great distress. Dr. Hassan Al-Wadie, the hospital's director, said under the rules and regulations of the Health Ministry they would not need the approval of either parent to carry out a Caesarian when it is necessary to save the lives of both mother and child. “Regardless, we called the husband several times but he did not answer. “His wife, who objected to the operation, also called him but there was no response.” The director said since the day of the delivery all hospital records were saying that the baby was a girl. “We make two types of records, one manual and the other electronic. “In the manual record the baby was registered as a girl but the staff in charge of the computer record mistakenly registered her as a boy.” The director said the staff who made the mistake was being investigated and would be disciplined.
