Hospitals won't deliver baby of ALS patient
Source: Xinhua |
January 22, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A WOMAN with Lou Gehrig's disease is due to give birth soon, but she has not been able to find a hospital in Beijing willing to take the risk of performing China's first Caesarean section on an ALS patient.
As a teenager, Lu Yuanfang, 31, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a fatal, incurable neuromuscular disease that progresses rapidly.
A native of northwest China's Gansu Province, she arrived in Beijing with her husband, Luo Zhongmu, last month and rented a home. Since then, she has been searching for medical facilities willing to assist her delivery.
"We don't know anyone here in Beijing, and all the hospitals we visited said they were unable to operate on an ALS patient," Luo said yesterday.
Lu is now 34 weeks pregnant and test results show that the fetus is healthy. Doctors have urged her to have a C-section before the fetus reaches 36 weeks, in case her own health deteriorates and threatens both herself and the baby.
Before they arrived in Beijing, a Sino-Canadian joint-venture hospital for women and infants offered Lu free prenatal tests and delivery services.
But after tests, the hospital's management decided Lu's case was too risky, as the hospital has neither the proper equipment nor specialists. "We are apparently not qualified," a hospital manager said.
Wu Shiwen, a neurologist with the General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, said Lu's disease may cause respiratory failure during delivery.
"The risk is high - actually it's too risky for an ALS patient to be pregnant at all," said Wu.
However, knowing her disease is fatal, Lu felt it was important to have a child to keep her husband company after she dies. "The child will make our family complete like all other families, and this is the happiest thing I can think of."
The couple met online in 2009. They married in 2011, despite the objections of Lu's parents, who believe their daughter's very existence is a miracle.
Test results show the ALS gene was not passed on to the fetus.
The couple's plight has been covered by Chinese media. Many web users have offered a helping hand, either by donating cash or contacting hospitals.
They have very little money saved and no idea how much the delivery will cost. Lu's father is partially blind and her mother earns 500 yuan (US$80.30) a month as a janitor. Lu has two brothers, one of whom is also an ALS patient. Her other brother is in junior high school.
As a teenager, Lu Yuanfang, 31, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a fatal, incurable neuromuscular disease that progresses rapidly.
A native of northwest China's Gansu Province, she arrived in Beijing with her husband, Luo Zhongmu, last month and rented a home. Since then, she has been searching for medical facilities willing to assist her delivery.
"We don't know anyone here in Beijing, and all the hospitals we visited said they were unable to operate on an ALS patient," Luo said yesterday.
Lu is now 34 weeks pregnant and test results show that the fetus is healthy. Doctors have urged her to have a C-section before the fetus reaches 36 weeks, in case her own health deteriorates and threatens both herself and the baby.
Before they arrived in Beijing, a Sino-Canadian joint-venture hospital for women and infants offered Lu free prenatal tests and delivery services.
But after tests, the hospital's management decided Lu's case was too risky, as the hospital has neither the proper equipment nor specialists. "We are apparently not qualified," a hospital manager said.
Wu Shiwen, a neurologist with the General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, said Lu's disease may cause respiratory failure during delivery.
"The risk is high - actually it's too risky for an ALS patient to be pregnant at all," said Wu.
However, knowing her disease is fatal, Lu felt it was important to have a child to keep her husband company after she dies. "The child will make our family complete like all other families, and this is the happiest thing I can think of."
The couple met online in 2009. They married in 2011, despite the objections of Lu's parents, who believe their daughter's very existence is a miracle.
Test results show the ALS gene was not passed on to the fetus.
The couple's plight has been covered by Chinese media. Many web users have offered a helping hand, either by donating cash or contacting hospitals.
They have very little money saved and no idea how much the delivery will cost. Lu's father is partially blind and her mother earns 500 yuan (US$80.30) a month as a janitor. Lu has two brothers, one of whom is also an ALS patient. Her other brother is in junior high school.
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