The Directorate of Health Affairs is looking into a complaint lodged by an Egyptian resident that a private hospital refused to help his wife deliver their triplets. Abdul Nasser Muhammad Fodah said that from the beginning of his wife's pregnancy, a doctor at the private hospital was treating his wife. This encouraged him to book her into the hospital for the delivery. He paid SR3,000 which had been donated to him by a charitable society. The fact that his wife was pregnant with triplets made him take special precautions to ensure she had the best medical care in the event of an emergency. When his wife developed labor pains, he rushed her to the hospital where he met the treating doctor. After the doctor had examined his wife and given her four injections to stimulate her lungs, they were told to wait a little longer, said Fodah. Later that night, while at home, his wife again had labor pains, so he took her again to the hospital. However, the doctor allegedly told him that he could not conduct the delivery because there were no vacant incubators in the hospital. He said he was surprised at the doctor's refusal even though he had paid in advance. He said this left him with no option but to drive her as quickly as possible to Al-Azizia Maternity Hospital. He said doctors rushed her to the labor room and helped her to give birth to their triplets. He was charged SR1,500. Fodah said this raises a crucial question about the refusal of the doctor at the private hospital. He said that any delay in the delivery could possibly have killed his babies. He said he reported the hospital - for the doctor's recklessness and its shortage of incubators. He said that even the Al-Azizia Hospital is pressuring him to discharge their babies because it also has a shortage of incubators. An official source at the Directorate of Health Affairs in Jeddah, said the directorate will follow up on the expatriate's case with the hospital. If it is proven to be true, the hospital and the treating doctor will be severely punished, said the source.
