For close to seven months, Hasheema Begum, a 28-year-old housewife in Chennai, had been eagerly looking forward to give birth and become a mother.
But on Monday- November 21- she got a rude shock. Doctors at the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in the city informed her that she was not pregnant but had a cyst in her abdomen.
This, after in April she underwent a urine pregnancy test at the same hospital and the results showed positive for pregnancy. Nasrath, Hasheema’s sister, told The News Minute that the hospital also gave November 18 as the estimated date of her delivery.
Hasheema has been married for the last seven years and was keenly waiting to become a mother, she added.
Stating that the entire incident has deeply upset her sister, Nasrath said “Hasheema used to travel from Kannagi Nagar to Triplicane for check-ups every month. She got her scans in the third, fifth and the seventh month. We have the medical reports and she was also taking regular vitamins and iron supplements.”
However, The New Indian Express reported that Hasheema did not have any records of an ultrasound test in her medical records.
“Her stomach was also bulging which made us believe that she was pregnant,” said Nasrath.
On Monday, three days after the estimated date of delivery, Hasheema went to the hospital. “After further tests revealed that she is not pregnant, the doctors yelled at her. They asked her if she was coming to the hospital to simply sit on the bench. She was really hurt,” she said.
The hospital has said that after the initial four months, she did not come for proper check-ups. “In the fifth month, she did not come for the scan and clinical examination. She must have just got basic tests like blood pressure and weight check done,” Dr S Vijaya, a gynaecologist at the hospital, said.
The doctor also said that the scans are done after the fifth month as the uterus begins to enlarge by then. But on Monday when they tested Hasheema’s uterus, it showed no growth.
She added that urine tests can go wrong at times. “Hasheema could have left the hospital after basic tests instead of getting the scans due to the hospital being overcrowded. She used to bring different books (consisting of medical records) every time she came for check-ups,” said Vijaya.
Dr Vijaya also claimed that Hasheema had pseudocyesis, a condition in which a person believes that she is pregnant. She added that the woman had Polycystic Ovary Disorder (PCOD) and a cyst was removed from her abdomen in January.
Kannan, a social worker from Kudisai Makkal Vazhvurimai, said, “This shows the poor quality of treatment provided to the patients. Hasheema also did not have any proper government hospital near her house, so she had to travel this far.”
Hasheema Begum has decided to file a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission and also get further treatment done in a private hospital in Kalpakkam.