Please excuse me if this post is not suitable for this forum. I usually spend most of my time here lurking around the Downloads section... anyway... The following letter is written by a friend in China, who just lost his wife last week after giving birth to a daughter. While it may not be uncommon, especially in the small town, the family would like to share this story to as wide as far as possible. The original post can be found here written by my love (and below I have translated it to English): http://www.028town.com/thread-1433649-1-1.html If his story made you feel anything, please give your best wishes to the family by simply replying here, or visiting this Facebook group (though I'm not sure if I set it up properly): http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_104359226300332&ap=1 Please note that it is a truly sad event... if you are not in the mood, then please save your day and come back to read another time. Otherwise, I hope reading this may also help some others to open their eyes and see how important life is. --------- Wife suddenly passes away 6 days after Cesarean Section, Hospital refuses to take responsibility Me and my wife went to SiChuan CangXi People’s Hospital for predilivery on October 21st evening, my wife’s sister came all the way from ShanXi province to take care of her. We initially chose another hospital but they had an accident where mother and baby died. My wife went into labour room on October 22nd at 16:00, gave birth to a baby girl at 18:00. From 22nd to 23rd my baby girl and wife were in good shape. On the morning of 24th, my wife had trouble breathing, I immediately notified the main Doctor, Doctor gave her Oxygen Therapy and suggested light activities, on 25th she still had trouble breathing, I notified the Doctor again, Doctor concluded that my wife’s stomach is swelling and he said it was no big deal and everything was normal, then he suggested heat messaging for my wife, and she would be able to consume food, me and my sister-in-law had followed his instructions. By this time my wife was not able to sleep properly, and she told me she had back pain and wanted me to massage her. On the 26th, my wife seems out of energy, low-spirited, trouble breathing, we notified the Doctor and he explained that the patient hasn’t had any food for the past couple of days, it’s all normal; on the same day the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics asked Pain Management to take a look at my wife’s piercing back pains, and the Doctor said it is still normal, and to apply heat massage therapy; me and my sister-in-law have been notified any signs of discomfort to the Doctor right away. On the 27th, the swelling on my wife’s stomach and legs had gotten worse, during transfusion, none of her blood vessels could be found. They finally found some blood vessels but the liquid could not be injected into her body, the entry point swells up in just a little bit, the Doctor kept saying this is normal, and told us to keep massaging the swollen parts. At 21:00 on the 27th, my wife was antsy, had trouble breathing, I immediately went to look for the Doctor, but was not able to find him in time, the nurse told us that the Doctor is doing another surgery and will be notified as soon as his surgery ends. The doctor came at 22:30 and checked up on my wife, and said everything is normal; the whole night my wife had trouble breathing and was bad tempered, could not go to sleep, and was moaning of pain. At 5:52 on the 28th, my wife went to the bathroom and was experiencing severe dizziness, my sister-in-law and the relatives of the patients in the same room helped to put my wife to bed, and notified the Doctor immediately, and called me saying “Older brother, come quick, my sister is dying!!!” I rushed to her room, the Doctor had just gave her Oxygen Treatment, and was performing transfusion, I made sure that they were injecting her with physiological saline. I asked the Doctor why is this happening, Doctor said there will be a consultation along the doctors at 8, after they come to work, so they can know the real cause and perform adequate treatments. After their meeting at 8:30, I signed a Critically Ill Notice. The hospital finally came out with an emergency treatment plan at 10:00. During this time period, the hospital was in defiance of life, when doing type-B ultrasonic, regardless of my wife’s critical conditions, they forced me to pay the 103 Yuan fee first, then they would start the treatment, and ignored the fact that I paid 200 Yuan deposit when coming to the hospital at first. This made the treatment delayed by 1 hour. At 10:00, the hospital just started emergency treatment, during this time, they were not able to extract blood out of my wife, they could only use veins and neck. At 11:00, the hospital moved my wife to the Intensive Care Unit from her room. At 22:03 of 28th, the hospital announced her dead. At the time, the main Doctor hid my wife’s medical record in his clothes, and was caught by the relatives, and another person hid the records and ran to the stairs, but was then stopped by the relatives, and was asked to keep the record, the hospital came up with many excuses to stop us from getting the record. At last, we had to bring a copier, in front of the hospital, and was finally able to make a copy of the record. The relatives were enraged at what the hospital was doing. It was 2 hours after my wife’s death that the secretary to explain the situation. The relatives were angry, the hospital was a national top second tier hospital, my wife was in good shape before the delivery, she had no high blood pressure or any other symptoms, and she died 6 days after labor? This is not a simple accident, this is the hospital showing defiance of life, delaying treatment, thus resulting in her death. This hospital is not a life-saver, it is indeed a life-taker! Daughter of 9 days old, only drank her mother’s milk twice, never got a mother’s hug, will never feel any of mother’s love, what kind of future is waiting for her? I am just an average man, with 2 children in my hands... How will we survive? We have solid evidence that the hospital was being careless: 1. Record was not taken seriously, the baby’s gender was wrong, the hospital mistakenly recorded a girl as a boy. 2. The time of birth was 17:00, but they had put in 7:00 and 11:00. 3. “Breast Milk Feeding Evaluation” was bogus. After the incident, leaders of the hospital lacked courtesy, came 2 hours after the relatives’ request to pacify them, and made up excuses for himself, also hiding their mistakes during the whole treatment process. Doctors disregard life, who can answer relatives’ concerns, who can redress the injustice, who can shed me light on how to take care of 10 year old and 9 day old daughters, along with my aging parents? How will I live on? At 8:00 on the 28th, my wife was losing consciousness, she was having trouble speaking, her big beautiful eyes wide open, stared at me romantically, and she said to me with effort: “Hubby, I gave you a girl and a boy, I am really happy....” then she laughed loudly, and suddenly had tears in her eyes, she told me “sigh, I chose the gate to hell, my son....” I was not able to understand her, and was not aware that this was her last will! My wife asked me so many times to eat hot-pot with her when she was pregnant, but I refused because it would not be healthy for our child; she asked me to get her a nice neck-lass, I promised her I will buy her one when I get paid by the construction company, but it never happened; I promised her I will buy our own house, it never happened; she only drank 2 fish soups during this 7 days, she wanted to eat a proper meal, I only fed her some rice mixed with soup, the Doctor advised not to give her food and water, I told her not to eat anymore, she took my joke seriously, I also persuaded her to eat or she would die of hunger!... I have so many regrets, at 27th’s night I shouldn’t have followed my wife’s advice to take a shower and a nap, because she was worried that I had not slept for a whole day, and left her for 4 whole hours! And those days I did not follow up with her illness, why didn’t I take Medicial classes! I did not take good care of her, she endured unbearable pain, her arms were full of needle holes, she had her blood samples taken almost 20 times! Why did I trust this Doctor, not other Doctors! Why did I forget to bribe the Doctor.... I have so many regrets, I should have looked after her when she was in Intensive Care Unit, I shouldn't have followed the Doctor’s advice to leave! I should have given our daughter a name for my wife to consult with, when she left, she didn’t even know her daughter’s name! I am confused: why did my wife say she gave me a boy, is it because she never knew it was a girl? My dear wife, please forgive me! I can only apologize to your grave with my silent cries! Apologizing to you with my face in tears! I will never get your endless love, I will never eat your delicious meals, I will never get your worries about me. My life is ruined! I promise: I will find my wife justice no matter what, the hospital would not take responsibility for her death, would not take responsibility for their ignorance on the job, would not take responsibility for disregard for their patients life. In their minds, life can be purchased with money! A county hospital belongs to the Country, how can a citizen’s life be of their disposal! How can their ignorance on the job be protected against! My dear, I am sorry, please forgive me for using your body to right this mess among the doctors, for the better of others, you are kind, are you willing? ---Tearless Man Crying Blood at Night A few photos of the new baby:
I'm sorry for your friend's loss. From the scant description that was posted, it could really be anything. However blood clots (normal risk) and or pregnancy related congestive heart failure (rare risk) are two things that I would immediately be suspicious of. I hope your friend finds solace in the baby left to him. I wish them well.
These type of problems are more common than you think in China, they still lag a lot over there and especially in small towns. The way those doctors and the hospital handle this issue is really disgusting and shameful.
government = money = treatment = education all related if only one doesnt work all wont work. and china is the country fail on all 4 areas.....
my condolence to the family. it will really start getting rough from here on out. Even though she is not here anymore he still have the baby which is the product of their love.
Sorry for your friend's loss. Doctors ain't God so they too make mistakes; but it's unforgivable to not stand up to your errors .. saving face and career. I don't think pursuing this will get your friend anywhere with the current Chinese judicial system. Like the letter referenced, it's one of those top tiered hospital so they obviously have lots of connections to resolve this matter without facing any punishment. My best advice is to settle for a good amount of compensation and use it to take care of your daughter. Justice? Difficult to get in China so it's best to save the time and effort hopping through the circle; instead, focus on your daughter and moving on is more worthwhile. It's sad indeed.
Condolences to the family that suffered. Sometimes accidents do happened. That's why they are called accidents.
