JCP calls for government efforts for safe birth

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP calls for government efforts for safe birth

Prospective Japanese Communist Party candidates in Tokyo for the House of Representatives visited the Health Ministry on October 27 to make representations for improving Tokyo’s obstetrics care system to ensure safe births and to increase the budget to support child-raising.

Early this month, a pregnant woman in Tokyo was turned away by eight hospitals and died of cerebral hemorrhage after giving birth at Metropolitan Bokuto Hospital.

JCP House of Representatives member Kasai Akira and three other JCP candidates running in Tokyo’s proportional representation bloc called on the ministry to thoroughly investigate this tragic incident and strengthen and improve perinatal care systems.

They also demanded that the government maintain enough pediatricians and ensure budgets to enable pregnant women to have 14 medical examinations during the term of their pregnancy. They also requested the ministry to compensate parents for the cost for birth giving process in advance so that they do not have to come up with the payments.

Candidate Tanigawa Tomoyuki,who is also a pediatrician, pointed out that hospitals have a shortage of pediatricians, physicians, and surgeons in addition to obstetricians, making this kind of incident likely to occur again. “The Health Ministry must be held responsible for its policy of reducing the number of medical students admitted to medical schools. It should change its policy to one of truly protecting the lives of the citizenry,” Tanigawa said.

Health Ministry officials said that they are considering taking measures to prevent similar tragedies as well as increasing public assistance for pregnant women to have proper and sufficient medical checkups.

A midwife in Bunkyo Ward said, “When a patient is taken to an emergency room or when a mother gives birth late at night, not only doctors but midwifes and nurses are called upon to take care of them, but they are not able to look after the mothers and babies immediately after birth.” - Akahata, October 28, 2008