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Death of pregnant worker raises questions about hospital

By Li Hongmei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-06-26 12:06

At 4 am, November 21, 2007, an expectant migrant worker surnamed Li was rushed to Julong Hospital in the township of Foshan in China's southern Guangdong Province by her family in a serious condition. But three hours later, both the pregnant woman and the unborn baby died.

The family accused the hospital authorities of negligence, which they thought directly contributed to the two deaths. However, the hospital contended the family should be to blame, as they declined the doctor's advice for an immediate cesarean section, but insisted on a vaginal birth which the hospital claims led to amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a rare but fatal obstetric emergency.

Li and her family are migrant workers from Hunan province, central China. Li's husband surnamed He, told a reporter from Sina.com that she was 34 years old, and the couple agreed on a vaginal birth mainly due to money concerns, as a C-section would cost 2,000 yuan more than a normal childbirth.

"Before the admission, we had a regular examination in the same hospital and were told that everything was fine," recalled He. "We were informed that all the conditions were normal until 5 am, but an hour later at 6 am, my wife, turned pale, and complained she was feeling dizzy. After we took my wife to the hospital, my mother-in-law and I tried to find medical staff to help her. But what we met was their aloofness and negligence," He was quoted as saying.

When the medical staff arrived they found Li had already been in a critical condition, and advised an immediate C-section. By government health regulations, the hospital asked Li's family to authorize the operation by signing a form.

According to Sina.com's report, He should have signed the form without any hesitation. But when he gave it another thought, he changed his mind, as he thought his signing might mean accepting what he felt was the inhumane attitude of the medical staff toward their work and patients.

In the meantime, his wife became unconscious. Julong Hospital sought technical help from the People's Hospital in Shunde District of Foshan immediately. But all rescue efforts failed and at 7:50 am, Li was officially pronounced dead, as well as the unborn baby.

On hearing of this, Li's other relatives stormed into the hospital, and had a physical confrontation with the medical staff, which was quelled later by police intervention.

Li's corpse was still in the delivery room, as her family insisted the hospital claim responsibility before they agreed to move her body to the mortuary.

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