MoH seeks to clarify death of pregnant woman

March 20, 2018 - 14:00

 The Ministry of Health has asked the Department of Health in central Nghệ An Province to quickly clarify the details surrounding the death of a pregnant woman.

A bamboo stick was taken from the uterus of a pregnant woman who got an abortion in northern Tuyên Quang Province last October. — Photo vietnamnet.vn
Viet Nam News

NGHỆ AN — The Ministry of Health has asked the Department of Health in the central province of Nghệ An to quickly clarify the details surrounding the death of a pregnant woman.

The 33-year-old woman from Quỳ Châu District’s Châu Phong Commune had died one day after getting an abortion with a bamboo stick from a local herbalist.

In a document sent to the department on March 19, deputy head of the ministry’s Department of Maternal and Child Health Đinh Anh Tuấn said it was a strictly legal case.

He urged local health units to strengthen inspections on obstetrics facilities to prevent similar occurrences in the future. He also called for the local health system to strengthen dissemination of information for people to avoid getting maternity services, especially abortion, at unlicensed centres, to ensure the safety of both mothers and children.

The herbalist at the centre of the case, known only as Thanh, reportedly used a bamboo stick to poke the pregnant woman’s uterus as a way of aborting the child within.

A few hours later, the woman complained of severe stomach pain and was in a critical condition by the next morning. She was rushed to Quỳ Châu District’s General Hospital for treatment, and she later died en route to Tây Bắc Hospital.

Đặng Tân Minh, director of Quỳ Châu District’s Health Centre, told news.zing.vn that the centre had proposed the district’s People’s Committee should fine the herbalist VNĐ50-70 million (US$2,205-3,087).

Thanh has only completed seventh grade and has no medical degrees or medical practice certificates. — VNS

E-paper