Lalene Malik and her family welcomed her newborn surprise as a “blessing”, but criticized her GP for allegedly missing out on opportunities to find out she was a future mom. When Mrs Malik suffered from excruciating stomach pain at her home in west London on March 26, her family rushed her to A&E to see what was wrong. The 23-year-old thought she had constipation but Sumra’s mother had an “intuition” that something was wrong. Picture: Lalene Malik, 23, with her two-week-old son Mohammed Ibrahim “It was a complete shock and a trauma for both of us” At the bathroom at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, north-west London, Mrs Malik was about to rinse when baby Mohamed Ibrahim’s tiny hand was found in the bowl, leaving her terrified that she and her son’s life were in danger. “I was gone. My mind was empty. They put me in another room because I was obviously crying and my mom was crying,” he said. “It was a complete shock and a trauma for both of us and I felt my life was in danger.” Ms Malik believes her son may have been stuck for up to seven minutes before doctors rescued him. Doctors who rescued the baby said he “looked lifeless” and was not breathing, but fortunately resuscitation efforts were successful. Picture: Dr Ewa Grocholksi with Lalene Malik and her baby Doctor praises mom as “hero” Dr Ewa Grocholski, who helped save the baby’s life by doing chest compressions, said it was “the most amazing experience of (her) medical career”. “I have never seen (a baby be born) in such conditions. I have seen young ladies like Lalene before they came to A&E without knowing they were pregnant and giving birth in the A&E department, but it was always in a safer place. “She was in bed or it was slower, so we would have noticed they were giving birth before that happened.” Dr Grocholski praised Ms Malik as a “hero” and said it was “unbelievable” that she had given birth even though she had no prior knowledge of the pregnancy. Image: Lalene Malik and her son meet staff at Northwick Park Hospital in north west London “If I had known I was pregnant, I would have loved those moments” Ms Malik, who said she had two negative pregnancy tests in February, described her son as a “miracle” baby and praised doctors and nurses at the hospital for their efforts to keep him healthy. However, she accused her family doctor, Elm Trees surgery in Greenford, of failing to perform the tests that could reveal she was pregnant. “If I had known I was pregnant, I would have loved those moments when I was shopping, preparing things for the baby,” she said. Her husband was abroad at the time and in “absolute shock” when he learned of the birth, Ms Malik added. Image: Lalene Malik and Adine’s sister arrive at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow to thank staff for treating her and baby Mohammed Ibrahim She said she returned to her doctor several times after experiencing symptoms such as weight gain and shortness of breath. Ms Malik said she underwent a blood test at the operating room in March, but was later told she had failed and the results were not available. He said: “I called again three days later and they said ‘oh, we can not find anything because the person who did the blood test did not move it properly, so come back three to six months later.’ Two weeks later her son was born. Elm Trees surgery said Ms Malik’s experience was below expected standards of care and the matter would be investigated. “We are very sorry to learn about Ms Malik’s experience, she is below the standards of care we expect from our services. You can be sure that this issue will be fully investigated,” she said in a statement.
