After the death of a young mother at UKC Tuzla, numerous other traumas surface

(Patria) - Twenty-year-old Belma Isić from Srebrenik died of septic shock at the Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics of UKC Tuzla, confirmed the autopsy report released today by the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of TK. The death of the young mother has caused numerous reactions, and the management of UKC Tuzla announces changes and sanctions for a department that has had a very bad reputation for decades. Bribery, internal staff disputes, lawsuits, fights, and traumas are part of it. Numerous women have now openly started talking about the traumas they claim to have experienced.

Šemsa Suljkić's six-year-old son has cerebral palsy. The mother claims this is a consequence of childbirth because she tried to give birth naturally all day, and the doctors refused a C-section.

"It's not my fault that my son was born like this. They are to blame because they didn't react immediately. I tried to give birth naturally. But I couldn't, I didn't have the strength to push anymore. They didn't want a C-section until they noticed he wasn't moving in the womb anymore," Suljkić told us.

She claims they insulted and humiliated her, saying: "If you could get pregnant at 19, you can give birth naturally too."

"When your milk comes in, you get wet, and they won't change you. When the bedding needs to be changed, you have to get up. How can you get up from the pain? Those who gave birth naturally can get up more easily. But with a C-section... you have a catheter, a drain. They won't help you," Suljkić added.

Džemka Karača Osmanović also had problems; before her second childbirth, she had to go for a consultation for a C-section. She waited, she says, while the doctors inside argued heatedly, and one doctor in particular caused problems.

"She behaved rudely and shouted. She told me: 'You want a C-section? Well, here you go, here you go, talk to this doctor, arrange a C-section with her, give her an envelope, and come during the night shift because she does C-sections. You want a C-section? Go for a C-section privately,'" said Osmanović.

In the end, the doctor in question, Osmanović adds, tore up Džemka's medical report in front of everyone.

"I had grounds to sue her. But in that state of stress I experienced, which I didn't experience throughout the entire pregnancy, I didn't because I wasn't up for it. Maybe I made a mistake. I also had the right to a private lawsuit because she tore up my report. But on the other hand, you have no trust in the system. Would her colleagues testify that she tore up the report?" Osmanović wonders.

And the new administration will try to restore trust in the system and the clinic, or so they claim. But only after the husband of the recently deceased mother reported the case to the prosecutor's office. There have been no suspensions or sanctions yet; the team's report is awaited.

"The team has been formed, and without certain legal advice that can lead to that process. Sudden suspension of people is not possible. You have 20 actors in the entire story, and you cannot make such a decision in two or three days," said Vahid Jusufović, director of UKC Tuzla.

"We will conduct a detailed and extensive investigation and all necessary expert examinations, hear witnesses, and obtain all medical documentation to determine the circumstances and whether anyone is responsible for the death of this young girl," said Admir Arnautović, Cantonal Prosecutor's Office Tuzla.

Thousands of women have shared their negative experiences on social media, naming and shaming doctors and medical staff for the problems they encountered.

In the informal group "Justice for Mothers" on the social network Facebook, numerous women say they plan to organize a protest to highlight the problems they have gone through and to prevent future mothers from experiencing the traumas they endured at UKC Tuzla, writes N1.