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Mother to sue over agony of swab left inside her
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard18.02.08
A mother is to sue a London hospital after doctors left a surgical swab inside her body during a Caesarean section.
Asma Sarfraz, 27, underwent emergency surgery on Friday to remove the piece of cotton that had left her in agony.
Mrs Sarfraz and her husband Shaz today told the Standard they were planning to sue Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust, which has begun an investigation into the botched operation.
Mrs Sarfraz, from Bromley, gave birth to the couple's first child, Sabrina, last Tuesday.
Doctors had decided to deliver the baby by Caesarean section, 10 days early, when it emerged that the child was in a breach position.
But shortly after the procedure, Mrs Sarfraz began to feel unwell.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Mrs Sarfraz said: "I felt a real burning sensation inside me. I kept telling the doctors that I was burning but they just kept telling me to calm down. I couldn't get anyone to listen - I felt helpless."
Although Mrs Sarfraz was given strong pain-killers, the couple claim that no decisive action was taken until a nurse became anxious about the woman's worsening condition.
Mr Sarfraz said: "Days had passed and she was in terrible pain. She was crying all the time and every time she moved she screamed in agony. I saw other mothers leaving with their babies and started to wonder why my wife and child weren't getting well enough to come home.
"It wasn't until three days later that a nurse worked out that something wasn't right. She went to get a doctor who said she needed to be rushed in for an X-ray."
When surgeons re-opened Mrs Sarfraz's Caesarean scar they discovered a piece of cotton that had been used to stem blood flow during the initial operation was left inside her.
Mr Sarfraz, who runs a beauty and cosmetics business in Penge, said: "I'm glad it was eventually spotted and removed, but when I was told what was wrong I wanted to punch somebody.
"No woman wants her body to be damaged. I'm just glad she is getting better but my wife is devastated. She was a fit and healthy woman before she went into that hospital and now she is a wreck - physically and emotionally.
"We are so angry, mainly because no one took a blind bit of notice of us. Eventually we got answers and a bit of attention. It hasn't been the start to family life that we were expecting."
A spokesman for the NHS Trust said: "We can confirm that a sterile swab was left inside a patient during her emergency Caesarean section. A full investigation into the causes of what happened has been launched."
Earlier this month the Healthcare Commission served the Trust with an improvement notice in response to its poor record on tackling infection control. Inspectors said it was "failing in its duty to provide and maintain a clean and appropriate environment for health care".
