DAMMAM — An Arab couple in Dammam has complained about a female gynecologist who allegedly diagnosed the woman's healthy unborn baby as dead. The doctor, who works at a private hospital in the city, is accused of telling the couple that the fetus had to be delivered as quickly as possible so the mother's body was not poisoned and prescribed pills to speed up the miscarriage. Luckily for the two young parents, another private hospital discovered that the baby was very much alive and well, local daily Al-Yaum reported Monday. Abeer, the mother, said she had been anxiously awaiting the delivery of the baby for whom she had already bought clothes and toys. She said she almost fainted when the female doctor told her that the embryo is dead and had to be extracted from her body as quickly as possible, otherwise it might poison her to death. She said: "My dreams were shattered and became a nightmare. I tried for five years before I became pregnant." The young mother said the pills prescribed by the doctor could only be brought from outside at the price of SR400 per pill. "The gynecologist asked us to buy four of these pills but my husband was able only to purchase one." Abeer said the doctor also asked her to carry heavy things and to run and jump so that the fetus came out quickly. The husband, also an Arab expatriate, said it was unbelievable that he would personally pay for the pill that would have killed his unborn baby for whom he waited so long. He said they did everything the doctor asked them to do for the fetus to come out but it did not. "When the fetus refused to come out, we sought a second opinion from another hospital, only to learn that the baby was very much alive," he said. The husband said he filed a complaint against the female gynecologist and also against the hospital, which refused to deport the doctor or make a pledge to treat the baby if he or she was born deformed. Spokesman for Eastern Province Health Affairs Assad Al-Saud said the complaint was forwarded to a medical Shariah committee and the female gynecologist was questioned. He said the father would be informed when the committee issued a decision.
