Pregnant woman dies as no medical specialist left at hospital in Turkey’s southeast

ŞIRNAK

An eight-month pregnant woman has died after no doctors could be found at a hospital in the Cizre district of the southeastern province of Şırnak.

Peyruze Pulat, 31, who was hospitalized due to suffering from severe aches, died at the Cizre State Hospital after an hour in intensive care, Doğan News Agency reported on Aug. 28. 

All gynecologists at the hospital were determined to have left the hospital over the past month, with four resigning, one reassigned to another hospital, and another on leave for the Eid al-Adha holiday.  

Pulat’s husband Hüsnü Pulat has said his wife and unborn child died due to neglect and filed a complaint at the Şırnak Public Prosecutor’s Office. 

“My wife died in pain right before our eyes. They initially told me that my wife’s heart had failed and they couldn’t save the baby. When I went to Şırnak for the autopsy, I explained the events that unfolded to the public prosecutor and filed a complaint. I lost my wife and my baby and I want all those responsible of this to be punished,” Pulat said. 

He added that when they went to the Cizre State Hospital, the doctors called other hospitals in different districts to find a gynecologist but were unable to find one and therefore made his wife wait in the intensive care unit. 

Officials, whose names were not disclosed, said there was one gynecologist in the Silopi district and another one in central Şırnak. They said pregnant patients in Cizre are usually sent to Silopi. 

They also told the Doğan News Agency that the Health Ministry was notified about the issue one month ago and the ministry assigned a gynecologist, but the gynecologist has not yet arrived. 

The hospital issued a statement saying “the baby and the mother could not be saved despite all efforts.” 

“Our initiatives regarding doctor assignments will continue with higher sensitivity,” the statement said, adding that Pulat’s pregnancy was a high-risk one and therefore should have been taken care of at a faculty or a research and training hospital. 

“Both doctors in Şırnak and Silopi state hospitals told the family that the woman should be taken to a higher grade institution. In the one hour when the patient was being transferred to our hospital her condition worsened and a CPR was applied to save her. When no positive response was obtained from the CPR, doctors tried to bring out her baby via caesarian section. Unfortunately, both the baby and the mother could not be saved,” it added. 

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu slammed the incident via his official Twitter account on Aug. 28.

“A reminder for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who constantly says ‘have at least three children.’ An eight-month pregnant woman died due to the lack of gynecologists at the Cizre State Hospital,” Tanrıkulu said.