Hospitals overhauled after infant trafficking

XI'AN - Northwest China's Shaanxi province issued regulations to strengthen safety management in hospital obstetrics departments on Monday after alleged infant trafficking last month.

According to the regulation issued by the provincial health department, hospitals are forbidden to hand infants over to a third party without parental presence.

According to the new rule, obstetricians will not be allowed to diagnose infant birth defects. Such diagnoses should be made by pediatricians, or in the case of difficult diagnosis, after consultation with multiple doctors or with doctors from a superior hospital, said the regulation.

The regulation also prohibits the unauthorized removal of infants from hospital wards. A strict door control system should be introduced at hospital neonatal units and obstetrics wards, and surveillance cameras should be installed to monitor hospital and ward entrances and corridors, according to the regulation.

Patients should sign an informed consent form in the case of stillborn infants and bodies should be disposed of properly, according to the regulation.

In a statement posted on the provincial health department's official website, the regulation aims to protect the legitimate rights and interests of new mothers and newborns.

Police on August 9 detained nine suspects in connection with alleged trafficking of infants at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in Shaanxi.

Police learned in late July that a doctor surnamed Zhang with the hospital allegedly obtained an infant by falsely claiming that the baby had congenital diseases, convincing the mother to abandon treatment and allow the doctor to handle the child.

Since then, police have received reports of 55 similar cases from locals, including 26 cases in which Zhang was allegedly involved.

Police have launched investigations into five of the reported cases and have rescued three newborns.

Three county government officials have been fired over the baby trafficking scandal and the hospital's president and two senior managers were dismissed.