Guangzhou, a 6-day-old baby girl lost her breath and heartbeat after feeding at a postpartum care center on August 24th and was pronounced dead after unsuccessful resuscitation efforts. The emergency medical records indicated that a small amount of milk residue was suctioned from her trachea by the emergency personnel. The family suspected that the baby girl did not receive timely and proper emergency care after choking on milk. As of September 12th, the family was still waiting for the autopsy report.
According to a report by “Red Star News” on September 12th, the baby girl was born through natural delivery on August 19th in Guangzhou. Hospital documents showed that the baby girl weighed 3.45 kilograms at birth, and the results of four newborn screenings were normal.
On August 22nd, the baby girl was admitted to the Guangzhou Panyu Warm Moon Postpartum Care Center with her mother. The next day, she visited the hospital for acute gastroenteritis and then returned to the center. The nursing records provided by the postpartum care center on the morning of the 24th showed that the baby girl was fed five times the previous night, with 45 milliliters each time, and she had seven bowel movements.
At around 12:30 pm on the 24th, nursing staff took the baby girl to the nursery to feed her. At 12:58 pm, the hospital received a distress call from the postpartum care center; when the emergency personnel arrived at 1:07 pm, the baby girl was limp, with purple skin and no crying.
The medical records indicated that the baby girl had no breathing, heartbeat, or pulsation in her neck artery at that time, her limbs were cold, and milk residue was visible in her mouth. After inserting a tracheal tube, emergency personnel suctioned a small amount of milk residue. The baby girl was pronounced clinically dead at 2:30 pm that day, and the diagnosis included respiratory and cardiac arrest, sudden infant death syndrome, and “asphyxia (?)”.
The baby girl’s father stated that upon reviewing the surveillance footage, he observed that the nursing staff fed the baby girl in four separate instances, during which she regurgitated milk, turned black-faced, and became unresponsive.
He mentioned that in the video, two nursing staff members patted the baby girl’s back, pinched her nose, and moved her limbs, but he did not see any other interventions being performed. The family suspected that after the baby girl choked on milk, she did not receive timely and proper emergency care.
As of September 12th, the nurse involved, Chen, had not provided a response regarding the incident.
The legal representative of the postpartum care center denied the baby girl choking on milk and attributed her death to an underlying condition, mentioning that the baby girl already had diarrhea upon admission and later developed dehydration. They denied any association between the death and the postpartum care center. However, the responsible person did not provide any medical diagnostic information supporting this cause of death to the media.
The center’s representative also mentioned that the nursing staff involved held nursing certificates, and they only took a few days off after the incident without suspension. The specific emergency measures taken at the time of the incident were not elaborated on by the responsible person.
The service agreement signed by both parties stated that the center was a domestic service provider lacking hospital qualifications and did not provide medical services. However, their service list included “emergency guidance for overflowing milk, regurgitation, and choking”, and their promotional materials claimed that the nursing staff had certification.
On August 24th, the family reported the nursing staff member, Chen, for suspected negligence leading to the death of the baby girl, and the Panyu police in Guangzhou accepted the case the following day. As of September 12th, the police stated that the case was still under investigation and did not disclose any specific progress.
The incident has raised questions among netizens regarding the surveillance and emergency response processes. One netizen asked, “Was the surveillance footage preserved, and did the nursing staff actually perform the correct emergency procedures?” Another netizen stated, “Wait for the autopsy report, but the fact remains that a 6-day-old baby is gone.” Some netizens demanded a thorough investigation to bring justice to the family.
Industry reports from March of this year showed that there is no unified national standard for the admission and operation of postpartum care centers in Mainland China. These facilities offer services in areas such as catering, accommodation, mother and infant care, and consumer healthcare, each managed by different departments with blurred regulatory boundaries.
In January of this year, a 9-day-old baby girl also died in a postpartum center in Maoming, Guangdong, with the cause of death listed as infant asphyxia in the death certificate. The family questioned the improper handling of milk regurgitation by the staff.