Hospital disposes of live baby

HEALTH authorities in south China said yesterday they were investigating a hospital medical team for mistakenly diagnosing a stillbirth and disposing of a baby that was alive.

The probe is taking place at the Nanhai Red Cross Hospital in the Guangdong provincial city of Foshan where the incident occurred on October 26, the Nanhai district health bureau said in a statement.

According to the statement, Liu Dongmei — eight months pregnant — had been rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding and stomach cramps.

She had an emergency birth, but the baby was neither breathing nor crying after leaving the womb and its skin had turned purple, it said.

Believing it was dead, the medical team disposed of the child but did not follow proper hospital procedures.

The Foshan News, a local website, reported that when Liu’s sister-in-law asked to see the body around 30 minutes after birth, she was handed a yellow plastic bag containing the infant and found it was still alive.

Following the discovery, the newborn was rushed to intensive care where he remains in a stable condition.

Officials at the hospital refused to comment on the incident.

Liu and her husband intend to sue the hospital for 300,000 yuan (€34,000), the Beijing News said.