Sadly, many babies are stillborn or die at or shortly after birth. Worldwide, abortion including late abortion is a common therapeutic and/or ‘social’ procedure, the remains of which must be disposed safety and with consideration for hygiene and aesthetics.
In China, the ‘one baby’ rule reduces the number of mouths to feed but the preference for a male heir results in, so we are told, many female fetuses being aborted.
The emotional, political and other issues involved in this is an area into which we will not stray. However, whatever individuals may think there is an awful lot of waste to dispose, from a blob comprising just a few cells and 200-300mls of bloodstained irrigation fluid to a fully matured term fetus necessitating additional sensitivity and care to adhere, as closely as possible, to the wishes of the mother.
In China, thinks are not just quite right, with staff members at an east China hospital having been punished for dumping the bodies of 16 dead fetuses and infants near a river bank. This is just the latest such case to expose chronic loopholes in the country’s hospital management system and one that is seemingly not so uncommon.
The dead bodies, wrapped in hospital bags, were found by local residents on a riverbank wasteland in Dezhou, Shandong province, on February 28. Initial investigations found that the bodies had been put there in early February by a mortuary worker at the Maternal and Children’s Hospital of Dezhou.
A deputy head of the hospital and a director of the ward were removed from their posts as punishment, in line with Ministry of Health regulations issued in 2010 banning the disposal of the corpses of fetuses or infants as “medical waste.”
This is the second case of dead infants’ bodies being improperly disposed of in just a month, as well as a reminder of another shocking case that happened in Shandong two years ago.
Two mortuary workers dumped the bodies of 21 infants and fetuses near a river in the city of Jining in 2010 – a more detailed report can be found in the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum archives. Authorities moved to detain the mortuary workers amid public uproar, saying the two allegedly made agreements with the families to dispose of the bodies for a fee.
In some parts of China, especially in poor rural areas, parents are reluctant to take the bodies of their dead babies home for a funeral, believing it will bring bad luck. They would rather leave the corpse in a corner of the hospital or pay someone to bury it.