A heavily pregnant woman is reported to have committed suicide after her family repeatedly refused to let her have a caesarean section.
A heavily pregnant woman is reported to have committed suicide after her family repeatedly refused to let her have a caesarean section.
Doctors had advised the 26-year-old undergo surgery as natural birth was too dangerous Photo:Dailymail
A pregnant woman’s relatives and a hospital in Yulin, Shaanxi province, are blaming each other for rejecting the woman’s request to have a C-section, which allegedly led to her jumping to her death from the fifth floor of the hospital.
The 26-year-old woman, surnamed Ma, was admitted to the maternity ward of Yulin No 1 Hospital in Shaanxi Province, northern China, last Wednesday, China Business News reported in Tuesday.
“Initial diagnosis found that Ma was over 41 weeks pregnant with her first child,” said a statement issued by the hospital.
“The large fetal head circumference meant that vaginal delivery would have been very risky.”
Doctors had suggested that delivery by caesarean section would be safer for Ma following the examination, but her family insisted on a natural birth.
Chinese law: The woman’s family denied her the opportunity to have a cesarean Photo:Dailymail
She was transferred to the delivery room on Thursday morning but later left the room several times because of pain. She asked her husband to allow a C-section. Her doctor and nurses also advised her husband to allow the surgery, but all requests were rejected, the statement said.
Ma walked out of the delivery room twice to tell her family member that she could not bear the pain and wanted a C-section Photo:Weibo
It was not explained why they denied her request.
The staff members also explained the situation to Ma’s husband, but the husband insisted on vaginal birth and signed a form saying that he understood the situation and possible consequences. Photo: HSW.com
Ma became emotional and lost control due to pain, and jumped out of the building later that day and died, the statement said.
Yan Zhuangzhuang, Ma’s husband, said in a statement that she left the delivery room at about 6 pm on Thursday, adding that his wife had asked to have a C-section and that he had agreed immediately.
The husband’s statement said the doctor checked Ma’s condition and said she was going to give birth soon and did not need a C-section.
After telling staff she couldn’t bear the pain, she jumped from the 20th floor of the hospital Photo:Dailymail
After more than an hour a nurse came out of the delivery room and told him Ma had disappeared. He later saw Ma’s body being lifted from the ground and put onto a stretcher, the statement said.
According to Huashang Daily, Ma fell from the fifth floor of an inpatient building at about 8 pm on Thursday and died after rescue efforts failed. The police ruled out foul play.
Under a regulation released by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, medical institutions must get consent from patients and a signature from a family member before performing surgery, but doctors can make decisions without consent in emergencies.
Gong Xiaoming, a gynecologist at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, said pregnant women should have the right to decide whether to have a natural birth or C-section.
“In reality, in many cases in China the decision to have a C-section is made by the patients’ family members and the doctors,” he said.
Many people voiced their shock and anger over the tragedy, and called for greater reproductive rights for women.
There are so much comments in Weibo regarding the heartbreaking story.
