Another pregnant woman rejected by hospitals in Tokyo

Wednesday 05th November, 06:22 AM JST

TOKYO —

A pregnant woman in her 30s was rejected by several perinatal care hospitals in Tokyo in late September just over a week before the case of another woman who died in similar circumstances made headlines, sources familiar with the latest case said Tuesday. The woman complained of nausea and other symptoms at a clinic in Chofu city and the doctor at the clinic contacted Kyorin University Hospital, one of the designated perinatal care centers, in adjacent Mitaka city and three other hospitals in Tokyo but they all rejected the woman, the sources said.

She was eventually accepted by Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital in Sumida Ward, 20 kilometers away from where she was, and she gave birth and underwent treatment for a brain hemorrhage, according to the sources. The woman was in her 41st week of pregnancy and started showing the symptoms just past midnight on Sept 22. The head of the clinic was summoned at around 3 a.m. and concluded she was highly likely suffering a brain disorder and then contacted Kyorin, the sources said. Kyorin rejected her on the grounds that a maternity doctor was engaged in an operation. The clinic contacted three other hospitals but met with rejections. Bokutoh was contacted around 5:30 a.m. and accepted her.

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Betting at 08:50 AM JST - 5th November

Notginger that is a pretty good point. And if cavemen could do it reasonably well, why can't the average doctor or ambulanceman make an effort either?
borscht at 08:54 AM JST - 5th November

Notginger, I don't think lawsuits are a problem in Japan yet. They will be if this level of medical attention continues. Plus, considering midwives didn't go to medical school, you'd think any competent doctor could deliver a baby. Plus, it took the Unnamed Clinic doctor 2.5 hours to call three hospitals? And even if the Kyorin UNIVERSITY hospital's one (only one?) maternity doctor was in an operation, didn't the UNIVERSITY hospital have another doctor? Maybe they were looking for a competent doctor, that would explain the rejection.
PaizuriSan at 09:06 AM JST - 5th November

And they say this country is underpopulated...
memyselfI at 09:40 AM JST - 5th November

Wow!!!! Now I know where my national health insurance payments are going to !!!! The money is going into someone's pockets !!!! Yes, national health insurance is a good idea in theory but getting rejected by 3 different hospitals is a sign that regulations need to be changed. Where is my money going ? I bet this woman was paying her national health insurance, shouldn't she get what she is paying for ??????
memyselfI at 09:48 AM JST - 5th November

Mid-wives they need to properly train nurses to be mid-wives. They need to recruit doctors by offering incentatives like a free house or free automobile. Get huge tax breaks !!!! The shortage of doctors is extremely bad in this country. And the physicans exam and licensing needs to be changed it's immpossible to pass. The government has a blind eye to this problem. They need to address it !!!! They need more young Japanese physicans these doctors they have now are to overworked. Or they need mid-wives or something.
majimeaussie at 10:06 AM JST - 5th November

From the article it seems that an obstetrician and another doctor to treat the brain hemorrhage were needed. At the first hospital they called the obstetrician was busy. What I don't understand is ....

I would understand that the doctor at the clinic is an obstetrician and the first hospital nearby has the other doctor for the brain. Problem solved. You have both of the doctors. Send him to the hospital with the patient.
fatloser at 12:09 PM JST - 5th November

Golly,the gov't spends alot of money trying to figure out how to get people to have more babies. I mean they have a whole deprtment devoted to it. They really ought to help these mommies who are ready to burst.
PASHA_51 at 01:38 PM JST - 5th November

Really unbeleivalbe in such a cultured ad nurtured society.Govt should take stern action against such hospitals and docs.
outofmydepth at 04:31 PM JST - 5th November

there are more......much more. we haven`t heard about them yet. but there are much much more.
whynothow at 04:42 PM JST - 5th November

Stop paying your National Healthcare bills...
1eyedjack at 05:04 PM JST - 5th November

I don't have the words to express my disgust in this ongoing situation of hospitals refusing to care for the sick and needy, especially pregnant women, here in Japan... I simply don't have the words !
the_sicilian at 05:49 PM JST - 5th November

Try living here (Okinawa,) where doctors are even more scarce. And good ones who know what they are doing? I've already lost a father in law because the "doctors" at one hospital incorrectly diagnosed something (lung cancer).

Now, my mother in law was sent home from a hospital after a fall because they couldn't find anything. The pain got so bad, she went back and then they discovered a broken femur.....The biggest bone in the body for F#$% sake. Then, of course, the blood loss also lead to several small strokes, and she hasn't been the same since.

I like it here, but don't have a medical emergency.

Addiu
Youdontknow at 05:49 PM JST - 5th November

If these hospitals cannot provide services in a metropolitan city like Tokyo, then they have no business being in business!
airrunwesker at 12:27 AM JST - 6th November

This from a country with a deminishing population. If I were already a lawyer, I would help her sue each individual hospital that refused her.
Eizenhauer at 06:27 PM JST - 6th November

Another nightmare case that could have ended fatally for the poor woman who suffered brain hemorrhage and who's life was clearly in danger. How can i stop paying for this bloody national health insurance? Any way to stop wasting my money? Anybody has some good tip on how to discontinue this burden of payments?