Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    A FUTIAN hospital, which was accused of the improper handling of a pregnant woman whose baby died soon after being born, said Saturday that they had tried their best to save the mother and the baby, denying malpractice.

    The woman, who was identified by her surname, Huang, was transferred to Peking University Shenzhen Hospital from another hospital in Futian District on March 9, due to complications in her pregnancy, said Liu Miao, a doctor of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital who was on the team treating Huang.

    Huang, aged 43, was found to be suffering from pregnancy hypertension and severe preeclampsia, so the hospital decided to perform a cesarean section on her as soon as possible. However, Huang’s husband, who was identified by his surname, Zheng, agreed to the procedure only after hours of persuasion by the doctors.

    Sixteen of the hospital’s staff as well as two doctors from Shenzhen Children’s Hospital were involved in the surgery, but the baby died one hour after being born. Huang was then transferred to the intensive care unit.

    Zheng, doubting the hospital’s practice from the very beginning, said that the hospital should shoulder the responsibility for the baby’s death. “My wife had previously given birth to three children and had no problems during any of the deliveries,” said Zheng. “She had even been doing housework one day before seeing the doctors March 9.”

    The hospital found that Huang hadn’t been getting regular pregnancy checkups, which are required for every pregnant woman in the city. “Zheng has been threatening to kill me, but I understand how he feels,” said Liu. “I hope he will calm down and become rational again.”