In Shymkent, the family of 28-year-old Zarina Sultan has accused medical staff at the City Perinatal Centre No. 1 of negligence, which led to the young woman's death.
According to ORDA, Zarina gave birth to a boy on 20 August. Relatives claim that initially everything was proceeding normally, but soon she developed a fever.
After an injection given by the medical staff, the woman's condition deteriorated, and monitoring of her, according to her loved ones, became a mere formality. The patient's heart stopped three times.
"First aid was not provided in time. Adrenaline should have been administered. Don't they know that in a hospital like this...?" said the victim's mother.
According to her relatives, doctors mentioned sepsis but could not explain its cause. Later, a decision was made to remove the uterus. It is reported that during treatment, Zarina received a transfusion of 18 litres of blood, yet no one explained where it was going.
"Whether you sign or not, we will remove the uterus. We've already discussed it via Zoom with doctors from Almaty and Astana—they advise removing it," the mother recalls.
A month after giving birth, Zarina died. She leaves behind a husband and two young sons—a newborn and a two-year-old. The family has stated their intention to hold the medical staff who were on duty during the shifts when the patient was treated accountable.
"We want the doctors to answer for my daughter's death. Who can guarantee this won't happen again?" says the victim's mother.
The circumstances of the woman's death are being investigated by the police. The perinatal centre stated that all actions taken by the doctors complied with clinical protocols and emphasised that specialists fought for the patient's life until the very end.
"An internal investigation is currently underway. Final conclusions will be made after the results of the forensic medical examination," said the deputy chief physician, Akmaral Makhasheva.
Incidentally, Zarina Sultan was herself a doctor. She graduated from a medical university in Almaty. The family had recently moved into a new home, where her funeral has now been held.
For context, earlier in Uralsk, a court partially upheld the claim of the family of a woman who died after being hospitalised with an infectious disease. The court found that doctors had violated standards of medical care, leading to her death, and ordered the hospital to pay over 3 million tenge to the deceased's relatives.