Doha, 16 March, 2019: More than 25,000 babies are born each year under the expert care of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) labor and delivery teams and the vast majority of these deliveries take place as planned. However, on 23 February, 2019 things did not go as expected for one mother when she was involved in a road traffic accident while in labor on the way to Women’s Wellness and Research Center (WWRC).
Ms. Muna Abdelawel from Eritrea, was 36 weeks pregnant when she experienced labor pains while at home. With her husband, Ibrahim, driving, and accompanied by their three-year-old daughter, they began what they thought would be a routine journey to WWRC. While on the way to the hospital their car was hit hard from behind by another vehicle and Ms. Abdelawel and her daughter were both violently thrown forward causing them to sustain head lacerations.
Mr. Abdelawel immediately called 999 and an ambulance was on the scene within minutes. The paramedics treated Ms. Abdelawel and her daughter and transported the entire family to Hamad General Hospital (HGH).
Ms. Asmaa Al Atey, Director of Trauma Nursing explained that while on the way to HGH, the paramedics informed the HGH trauma team that they were bringing in a mother who was in labor. “We have processes in place that alert clinical teams in the Trauma Section about high priority patients who are on their way to HGH. Part of this process enables any pregnant woman with trauma injuries to be immediately admitted to the Trauma Section without the need for the usual assessments at the Emergency Department. This advanced warning helped the trauma team prepare for Ms. Abdelawel’s arrival and meant they could immediately alert the on-call gynecologist from WWRC,” explained Ms. Al Atey.
On arrival at HGH, Ms. Abdelawel was admitted to the Trauma Resuscitation Unit where she was received by the trauma team, while her daughter was rushed to the Emergency Department for immediate treatment of her facial injuries. Dr. Neven Mustafa, the on-call gynecologist, arrived moments later. “It was clear that Ms. Abdelawel was in the advanced stages of labor and that her baby would be born very soon. Dr. Abu Baker the trauma team leader assessed her facial injuries and a decision was made to prioritize the mother’s delivery needs and carry out the full range of head assessments after the birth,” said Dr. Abdelawel.
Within minutes, Ms. Abdelawel delivered her second daughter, baby Entesar. The WWRC neonatologist assessed baby Entesar while Ms. Abdelawel underwent a CT Scan and full assessment. Following confirmation of no serious complications due to her facial injuries, both mother and baby were transferred via ambulance to the WWRC where baby Entesar was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for observation.
Baby Entesar was discharged home three days later and the entire family is now fully recovered from their eventful experience and thankful for the way in which HMC’s care teams responded to this unusual set of circumstances. “Giving birth to baby Entesar was certainly not the way we had planned it. Despite this being my second birth I was very nervous as I have suffered six miscarriages in the past so I was hoping for a smooth delivery. However, thanks to the expertise of the paramedics, trauma team and staff from WWRC we all got through the experience safely,” said Ms. Abdelawel.
“On behalf of my entire family, I would like to thank everyone at HMC for the way in which they responded and for the care and compassion they displayed to my family. Baby Entesar is a ray of sunshine and is, of course, totally unaware of the unexpected nature of her entry into this world. It will be a great story to tell her when she is a few years older!” added Mr. Abdelawel.
