Hospital's action right, says doctor

If anything, the recent baby "blunder" involving Sungai Petani Hospital is just because of lack of communication.
The Malaysian Paediatrician Association (MPA) said yesterday the hospital staff could have communicated better with the parents of the baby whose gender was registered as "ambiguous" on Sept 7.
"They were quite right in saying that the baby's gender is ambiguous. We have the classification, especially for cases like this - an enlarged clitoris," MPA president Prof Dr Zulkifli Ismail said when contacted.
He said it was not a mistake on the hospital's part where the classification of the baby's gender is concerned, adding that the baby's condition was because of "electrolite imbalance".
"These cases are not very common but we do see it and when we do, we need to be careful and keep the baby for a few days to ensure that the baby is safe," he said.
Businessman Ahmad Hassan, 58, and his wife Fazrina Md Daud, 31, experienced sleepless nights after their baby's gender was registered as ambiguous in the birth registration form, despite having Fazrina confirm the baby is a girl in the delivery room.
Fazrina gave birth to her 2.75kg baby through Caesarean section.
Hospital director Dr Harith Fadzillah called Ahmad to clarify the matter and apologised for the mistake.
Dr Hwang Yee Chern, of Island Hospital in Penang, said an ambiguous condition can be caused by two factors.
"They are congenital adrenal hyperplasia, where the male hormones are dominant in a baby girl or vice-versa, and real hermaphrodite, where there are chromosome abnormalities in a new-born baby.
"Both cases are rare and during my 20 years as a paediatrician, I have encountered only eight cases," she said.
"The congenital adrenal hyperplasia condition occurs when, for example, male hormones are dominant in a baby girl, resulting in her clitoris to develop bigger than normal.
"As for real hermaphrodite, it is a condition where a baby only has half the usual XX (female) or XY (male) chromosomes."
Hwang said both conditions can be treated with hormonal therapy.
On the hospital keeping the baby, she said it is a normal procedure as the hospital needs to conduct tests to determine the baby's gender.
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