Two suspended after pregnant woman's suicide

Speakers: Li Ningjing, Lincoln Van der Westhuizen and Lu Sirui  

The pregnant woman could not bear the pain and stood up. [Photo: from Baidu.com]

Two officials from a hospital in Shaanxi Province have been suspended from their posts over a case that led to the suicide of a pregnant woman.

The Health and Family Planning Department of the city decided to suspend an official in charge of the hospital compound and the head of the department of gynecology and obstetrics.

Meanwhile, the obstetrician in charge of treating the pregnant woman has also been suspended from work to cooperate with ongoing police investigations.

The tragedy happened at the No. 1 Hospital of Yulin City on August 31 when 26-year-old pregnant woman surnamed Ma who was in labor, jumped out of the window of an operation room, killing both herself and the child she was carrying. Police have ruled it was an apparent suicide.

According to Chinese media reports, Ma's request for a C-section was denied despite her experiencing severe pain during labor.

The hospital and Ma's family blamed each other for the rejection of a C-section, and clashed over what led to her death. The hospital said her family members did not give consent for a C-section, while her family said the hospital rejected their requests.

The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.