After a pregnant woman choose to suicide, the citizens of Chinese make debate medical

News24xx.com -  The 26-year-old pregnant woman, surnamed Ma, jumped from a hospital window in northern Shaanxi province on 31 August. Then she and her child that she was carrying also killed.

Huo Junwei, a doctor at the Yulin Number One hospital, told China Economic Daily that Ms. Ma left the ward twice and told her family that the pain was unbearable, and that she wanted a caesarean section, but the family were not willing to allow the procedure.

Her husband, surnamed Yan, refutes this, telling Beijing Youth Daily that we did not disagree to a caesarean.

A statement from the hospital says Ms Ma was 41 weeks pregnant, and that doctors had decided that the large foetal head circumference meant that vaginal delivery would have been very risky.

The hospital says that when medical staff sought the family's opinion, the family said they understood, but refused the surgery, and wanted to keep the situation under observation.

The hospital statement does not elaborate on the family members' relationship to Ms Ma.

Mr Yan confirmed that his wife had left the ward twice in pain. He said the situation had made him anxious and that he had asked the doctor to find someone familiar with caesarean procedures.

He said that by the time he got off the phone, his wife had disappeared.

"Knowing my wife's character, I did not think she would have had such a strong reaction," he told Beijing Youth Daily.

 

Chinese law stipulates that medical staff must seek permission from family members before carrying out major surgical procedures. But social media users question why Ms Ma was not allowed to make a decision for herself.

"A pregnant woman knows her own situation, why isn't her own signature enough?" asked FreedomMarciaLeyuan, receiving over 10,000 likes.

Wuli Laotiaotiao said the family should be regarded as murderers, and Liuxingbo added that they should be sentenced.

Jinling_xiaoxiao_sheng said sarcastically, "It is wonderful that Chinese patients have no rights to make their own decisions."

This is not the first time that there has been anger over bureaucratic procedures overruling an individual's freedom to decide on their own medical care.

After the late Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo was given medical parole for terminal liver cancer, his request to receive medical treatment overseas was denied.