THE parents of a pregnant woman who died after her husband refused to give his consent for a Caesarean operation have decided to take the Beijing hospital to court.

The decision to sue was taken after negotiations with hospital authorities broke down Monday, domestic media reported yesterday.

Li Liyun, who was about to deliever her baby, was taken to Chaoyang Hospital on Nov. 21 by her husband Xiao Zhijun after she suffered contraction pains. Xiao was told by doctors that his wife was in critical condition and needed an immediate Caesarean operation.

However, Xiao refused to consent to the operation despite hospital authorities attempts to persuade him. The hospital authorities were unable to reach any other relatives of Li Liyun at the time.

Li Liyun died along with a baby three hours later.

The Legal Evening News said Li Xuguang, the father of Li Liyun, met with hospital authorities after arriving in Beijing on Monday from Hunan, but talks were halted after 10 minutes because of irreconciliable differences.

Li Xuguang said the hospital should bear the main responsibility for his daughter's death as "the hospital was able to save my daughter, but he (Xiao) couldn't," yesterday's Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Li Xiao'e, the mother of Li Liyun, had earlier said she would file lawsuits against both Xiao and the hospital. "I've changed my mind (to sue both). I think the hospital should be the first to blame for my daughter's death at this stage because it had adequate professional knowledge and know-how to avoid the death but it failed," she said.

The couple said they had met with their lawyer from Beijing Hengfang Yongyuan Legal Firm and discussed the legal proceedings.

However, a legal counselor for the hospital said: "The hospital had done its duty as they clearly did inform the relatives about how serious the consequences would be if the woman did not receive the operation," Sunday's Oriental Morning Post said.

According to CCTV, Zhao Liqiang, vice head of the hospital, said that Xiao had refused a Caesarean operation for his wife as he wanted to have a second child. Xiao had allegedly been told earlier by an unidentified clinical doctor that a Caesarean section would have negative impact on his wife if she tried to have a second child.

An official from the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, also said that the hospital had done its best considering the fact that the patient's relative (husband) was present.However, he refused to consent to the treatment.

The bureau is investigating the matter.

(Wei Jie)