Health authorities launch investigation into death of expectant mother

Health authorities in Yulin, Shaanxi province, have launched an investigation into the death of an expectant mother who was denied a C-section, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

The 26-year-old woman, Ma Rongrong, jumped to her death from the fifth floor of the First Hospital of Yulin on Aug 31 because of unbearable labor pain.

On Wednesday morning, Ma's family and the hospital were still in dispute about the events leading up to Ma's death.

The hospital issued a statement on Wednesday morning, saying that police had confirmed that Ma's death was suicide.

The hospital offered three pieces of evidence in its defense - an informed consent for natural birth signed by Ma and her husband, a nurse's record showing that Ma's relatives had rejected the option of a C-section three times, and screenshots from the hospital's surveillance cameras.

In the screenshots, Ma is seen leaving the labor room three times to talk to her family. She is twice seen kneeling, which the hospital statement said showed she was begging her family for a C-section.

But Yan Li, a cousin of Ma's husband, told Beijing Youth Daily that Ma was squatting due to the pain.

Yan said that when Ma crouched down, she told her husband that she could not hold on any longer because of the pain and asked her husband to tell the doctor.

"My cousin told hospital staff immediately that a C-section was acceptable, but two doctors said after an examination that there was no need for a C-section and took away clothes prepared for the baby," Yan said.

Two doctors involved have been suspended pending an investigation.

Wang Keju contributed to this story.