MAKKAH — The Maternity and Children's Hospital in Makkah handed over a Pakistani baby boy to a delegation from the Pakistani consulate after taking care of him for a full year. The infant, born to a Pakistani Umrah pilgrim, spent at the hospital's nursery under the supervision of a specialized medical team. Dr. Hilal Al-Maliki, the executive director of the hospital, handed over the child to Sami Baligh Khan, the consul of Pakistan, who reached the hospital to receive him after his mother had to leave the premature infant at the nursery and return to Pakistan for fear of being exposed to coronavirus following the outbreak of the pandemic earlier last year. The Pakistani consul thanked the Saudi government as well as the Ministry of Health and the medical team at the hospital for providing excellent care for the child and holding constant communication with his family all along to reassure them about his health condition. On his part, Dr. Al-Maliki said the Pakistani pilgrim gave birth to her baby prematurely through a cesarean section, and at the time of delivery, the baby had a weight of one kilogram and was placed on a ventilator and stayed on in the hospital under the observation of specialist doctors and consultants specialized in neonatal intensive care for a period of 46 days. Dr. Attiyyah Al-Zahrani, the medical director and head of the neonatal intensive care unit, said that the premature baby was under the health care and attention in intensive care until his weight improved and he was transferred to special care under the supervision of the Social Service Department, and he is now in excellent health that enables him to leave the country.
