Careless Childcare: Going home smiling

Childbirth is tough for every mother, but for Rokhsana, it was toughest as she experienced the trauma of 'her' baby's death before getting her daughter back alive.

Rokhsana and her baby girl were released from Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) yesterday morning after 22 days of uncertainty. Before that, she was mistakenly handed over the wrapped body of a baby boy at Childcare Hospital, a private clinic, where her newborn daughter was undergoing treatment.

 “I am the happiest person in the world now. Words cannot describe my feelings,” Rokhsana told The Daily Star.

She was seen staring at her baby's face with an ocean of affection in her eyes and a big smile on her face while leaving the hospital.

Rokhsana, wife of Md Mohiuddin, a Dubai expatriate, gave birth to her daughter on April 13 at her house at Babupur village of Senbagh upazila in Noakhali.

Immediate after birth, the newborn baby had to be admitted to Noakhali Ma O Shishu Hospital where doctors referred her to CMCH. But the guardians of the baby took her to Childcare Hospital in Panchlaish Residential Area of Chittagong on April 14, said Prof Jagadish Chandra Das, head of department of neonatology at CMCH.

The baby underwent treatment at the intensive care unit of the hospital for four days and was mistakenly declared dead on April 17. A wrapped dead baby was handed over to Rokhsana. The shocked and upset family took the body to their village home for burial where they discovered that it was a baby boy.

After filing complaint with Panchlaish police and informing the hospital, the authorities admitted their mistake and returned the baby girl alive. She was still undergoing treatment at the ICU of the clinic.

The baby was then taken to Royal Hospital on OR Nizam Road in Chittagong and later shifted to the ICU of neonatology at CMCH.

After intensive care and proper treatment, the baby was handed over to her mother and was discharged from the hospital at 12:00noon yesterday in presence of Azizur Rahman Siddiqi, civil surgeon of Chittagong.

“The baby is risk free now. She had the worst health condition when brought here,” said Prof Jagadish.

The mortality rate of such patients is very high across the world. It was really tough to recover her health, the doctor said, adding, the baby might have some health complexity in future.

“We counselled the mother about proper care of the baby and asked her to bring her daughter after a week for some tests,” he added.