Woman In Labour Begs Family For Caesarean Before Ending Her Life [Video]

A pregnant woman from Shaanxi Province, China, has killed herself after being refused a cesarean section. Reports differ about who refused her the surgery:

A pregnant woman from Shaanxi Province, China, has killed herself after being refused a cesarean section. Reports differ about who refused her the surgery: official reports say that it was her family, but her husband insists that the hospital was to blame.

The woman, identified only by her surname, Ma, arrived at the hospital on August 31st to give birth. After initially declining a C-section, Ma later asked for one because of the pain, but was refused. An hour later, a nurse informed the family that she had disappeared from the delivery room. The hospital found her after she had fallen from the building’s fifth floor, and died after attempts to resuscitate her.

But the hospital and her family have different stories as to why that happened. Huo Junwei, one of the attending doctors says that when they examined the 41-week-pregnant Ma, they recommended a c-section because the baby’s head was so big. According to the hospital, her husband refused to allow the surgery even after being asked by doctors, nurses, and his wife.

However, her husband disagrees. He says that, when Ma was examined, the doctor said that she was going to give birth soon, and that a c-section wasn’t necessary. Because the security footage of Ma’s conversation with doctors was silent, it’s impossible to tell who refused her request. However, the main doctor attending Ma has been suspended.

In China, a State Council regulation says that doctors need a signature from a family member before starting surgery. Gong Xiaming, a gynecologist Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, says, “In many cases, the decision to have a C-section is made by the patients’ family members and the doctors.”

And since China ended its one-child policy in 2015, the state has emphasized the health benefits of giving birth naturally. “Women need to consider that if they choose C-sections for their first birth, it could affect their second pregnancy,” Mao Qun’am, spokesperson for the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told Financial Times in 2016.

But Ma’s story has generated so much outrage that these policies may change. Sina Weibo, China’s most popular social media site, has made the story go viral, with thousands of people sharing and commenting on it.

One of the most popular comments on the story (with 40, 000 likes) states that “apart from the pregnant woman, there’s no need to ask anyone else their opinion.” Another bluntly insisted that “a married woman is not a factory for making babies.” Only time will tell whether this outrage will be enough to sway governmental practice.

source: metro.co.uk, unilad.co.uk