On December 18, 2008, in Zhu Ma Dian City, China, Yu Lan Zhou’s pregnant daughter-in-law, who was only 7 months pregnant, gave birth to a preterm baby boy in a local clinic. Born way too early, he weighed only 1.4lbs at delivery and could not breathe properly on his own. The newborn boy’s heartbeat was very weak and his arms and legs were the size of an adult’s fingers. The clinic suggested that the family take the baby to a hospital for immediate medical attention. Zhou took her grandson to a local military hospital, but they refused to admit the baby when she could not come up with the required advance payment of 10,000 yuan, about $1,500. In tears, Zhou held her grandson to her chest and returned to her home, which has none of the badly needed medical equipment to keep her grandson alive. At home, with no incubator, no oxygen tubes, and no medication, Zhou holds her grandson against her chest to keep him warm against the cold, which sometimes gets below freezing in her house. To help the boy breath, she gently blows air near his face and struggles to feed him. “I can only use a dropper to feed him because his mouth is too small to suck on any bottles, and it takes an hour to feed him in the beginning, now he can slowly suck on his own,” she said happily. With Zhou’s loving care, her grandson has lived 11 days now at her home. “For a preterm baby this small to live this long without intensive care has to be a miracle,” said a Pediatrician from the Hong Kong Chinese University. There is no way to tell if the baby will survive another day without proper medication and as of today, we have heard no news of the baby being admitted to any hospital. Edit: Reports indicate that because of the publicity the story had, many people from all over the world offered to send money to cover the medical costs. The local hospital also agreed to admit the baby on the evening of the 28th, but the weather was too cold to move the fragile baby. Unfortunately the boy was not strong enough to make it to the hospital and passed away at 4:00 am on the 29th. Reports indicate the boy passed due to lack of oxygen. credits: sinchew, weirdasianews
Something odd here. For a baby to be 1.4 Pounds at the time of birth, this newborn then must be around averaged at 25 weeks gestation, one you hardly expect to be viable for 11 days even with the most advanced of care. A baby at 32 weeks is expected to weigh in at 3.5 pounds or so. On the other hand, there may have been other in utero factors that prevented overall growth (eg. a secondary uterine mass like a twin or fibroid) so the newborn could well be 32 weeks. Either way of course, as lungs are the last thing to fully develop, oxygen deprivation (from a variety of pulmonary issues) is what these preterm babies usually succumb to. While this is sad, it's something that is not rare in China. premature babies, and even full term ones, die all the time in China. What is rare is that with the new electronic media, a story like this can rapidly make it across the world. What we won't see as easily is how the family of the old woman is going to be harassed because they publicly embarrassed the hospital and showed them to be the heartless bastards that they are. Move along folks, there is nothing new here...
^I agree with ralph. Nothing new .. but it's still fucking sad to see something like this happened to an innocent baby when it's preventable.
whoaaa that bb is tinyyy.....my mammi tells when i was born i was a fat bb weighed nearly 10lbs...hahaha...-sweat... rip ickle bb
Was your mother overweight or suffering from pre-existing or gestational diabetes at the time? High maternal blood sugar usually induces higher birth weight babies. Most studies in the medical literature usually focuses on low birth weight; high birth weight, or macrosomia, unfortunately doesn't get as much attention. But there are reasons to suspect that more research needs to be done. For example, one recent study found females that were high birth weight (or large for their gestational age) may be at increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis as adults.
That was my initial thought too, however, on closer examination, I don't think they're really heartless per se, but rather that their level of greed easily exceeds their level of compassion. In China? Of course!
umm...no i was a fit and healthy bb....and so is my mammi... but i know diabetes does run in our fam but my mammi doesnt have any signs of it yet..*phew*...
thats just messed up i understand the operators of the hospital wanting ot make money but i am sure that doctors can find it in their heart to help .....or maybe not
these things happen alot in china or anywhere else... the poorer people cant afford proper medical assistance and they are left to die in critical condition... yes, money does come first in hospitals... they have no sympathy... hai~
