TAIF, 11 May  — A Saudi woman gave birth to a baby in a lavatory in the Taif Maternity Hospital with the help of outpatients and expat laborers in the absence of doctors and midwives a few days ago, a local newspaper reported  yesterday.

Abdullah Muhammad Al-Harthy brought his wife to the hospital when she was experiencing labor pains. The duty doctor in the hospital dismissed the case as false pain as his examination did not show signs of immediate delivery.

As the pain persisted, Al-Harthy brought his wife to the hospital again next morning when the doctor gave her an injection to induce birth. After the doctor left the hospital, Al-Harthy’s wife developed severe pain around 3 p.m. but there was no doctor available to attend her. When her cries and shrieks reached such a pitch that it was evident that she could not wait any longer, the husband carried her to one of the lavatories where she delivered her baby with the help of some female visitors and expat workers present in the hospital, Okaz newspaper quoted Al-Harthy as saying.

There were several eye-witnesses who confirmed the incident. Gharmallah Al-Ghamdi, a witness, said a lady, waiting for her turn to see a doctor, rushed to help the woman in labor pains while the baby was about to fall on the unhygenic floor of the toilet.

Another eyewitness to the apathy and negligence on the part of the hospital authorities said a baby had become paralytic following his birth in an identical situation some time ago.

However, Dr. Humaid Al-Sawwat, director of the hospital, said the delivery in lavatories was quite normal and sometimes it happened at home, in a car or any other place. Inquiries are underway to determine if a negligent duty doctor was responsible for the woman’s miseries, Al-Sawwat said. A doctor has the right go home when his duty time is over after recording the treatments to patients such as the injection to stimulate the delivery in this woman’s case, the director said. The next duty doctor will take the follow-up steps, he said. It is not possible for a doctor to remain in the hospital round-the-clock, he added.

On the other hand, Al-Harthy said when he protested about the negligence of the hospital officials, they lodged a complaint against him with the local police charging him with beating a lady doctor and female nurse with his iqal (head cord), the newspaper said.