May 29, 2011

Fetal Medical Unit

The lady who delivered the deformed fetus the night I was on call, came today complaining to Prof. Hassan Nasrat about the abortion laws in Saudi. The poor thing had to deliver two other fetuses with congenital anomalies whom were also incompatible with life. She was crying and showing him pictures of her dead baby. She asked for them to use this gift of science & knowledge to actually do something. The pregnancy should have been terminated & she shouldn't have had to carry those fetuses as long as she did. But of course the doctors didn't abort because our inhumane religious men told her and I quote: "at8y Allah ya o5ty hady nfs bshriah". Really? Well, they didn't look human and they died right after birth.

After she left, the Prof. said the laws are now looser but some doctors still don't feel comfortable using them. I thought our job as doctors was first to inflict no harm? I thought we should weigh the pros and cons and decide on the proper management? And how is it proper to lead a full term pregnancy with all it's known complications to the mother's body & psychological trauma, knowing that the out come is a dead baby?

And that is why I could never be an obstetrician. Too much ethical & so called religious shit.

6 comments:

  1. That sounds very traumatic. Isn't abortion permissible for health reasons? (mother and/or child's)

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  2. Yes, especially in this case but I don't know why they didn't terminate.

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  3. oh poor thing.. what a tragedy! I can't imagine what that woman had to go through.
    "She asked for them to use this gift of science & knowledge to actually do something.".. this sentence broke my heart wallah. :'(
    me too, I made up my mind from the start, I'm not working around babies or children.. not even closely.
    and sub7an Allah, what a coincidence! who could've expected that u would c her again.

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  4. Oh wow.. we still live in the stone age. :(

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  5. That is very sad! You should be a obstetrician to stand out among them :)

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  6. Ghada, I know, some serious follow up eih? :P

    Dareen, unfortunately yes.

    C, I'll be sued for malpractice. No, thank you. :P

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