Hospital Refuses to Admit 1.4lbs Preterm Baby

On December 18, 2008, in Zhu Ma Dian City, China, Yu Lan Zhou’s pregnant daughter-in-law, who was only 7 months pregnant, gave birth to a preterm baby boy in a local clinic.

Born way too early, he weighed only 1.4lbs at delivery and could not breathe properly on his own. The newborn boy’s heartbeat was very weak and his arms and legs were the size of an adult’s fingers.





The clinic suggested that the family take the baby to a hospital for immediate medical attention.

Zhou took her grandson to a local military hospital, but they refused to admit the baby when she could not come up with the required advance payment of 10,000 yuan, about $1,500.

In tears, Zhou held her grandson to her chest and returned to her home, which has none of the badly needed medical equipment to keep her grandson alive.

At home, with no incubator, no oxygen tubes, and no medication, Zhou holds her grandson against her chest to keep him warm against the cold, which sometimes gets below freezing in her house. To help the boy breath, she gently blows air near his face and struggles to feed him.

â€œI can only use a dropper to feed him because his mouth is too small to suck on any bottles, and it takes an hour to feed him in the beginning, now he can slowly suck on his own,â€ she said happily.

With Zhou’s loving care, her grandson has lived 11 days now at her home.

“For a preterm baby this small to live this long without intensive care has to be a miracle,” said a Pediatrician from the Hong Kong Chinese University.

There is no way to tell if the baby will survive another day without proper medication and as of today, we have heard no news of the baby being admitted to any hospital.

Edit: Reports indicate that because of the publicity the story had, many people from all over the world offered to send money to cover the medical costs.

The local hospital also agreed to admit the baby on the evening of the 28th, but the weather was too cold to move the fragile baby.

Unfortunately the boy was not strong enough to make it to the hospital and passed away at 4:00 am on the 29th. Reports indicate the boy passed due to lack of oxygen.

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