Chapter 561 Uterine Rupture and Puerperal Infection
Li San Niang's mood has been rather low these past few days. This is partly due to the fact that her sister-in-law, Li Da Sao, was diagnosed with placenta previa, which carries a high risk of complications during childbirth, causing her great anxiety. It is also related to the fact that she has seen two women who died in childbirth-related complications during her recent medical outreach.
A woman named Yan Niang lived with her husband in the outer three cities, making a living by washing clothes for others.
Yan Niang died; she died from a ruptured uterus during childbirth.
That day, Yan Niang's husband lost his shoes and rushed to the clinic entrance, shouting, "Doctor, help! Help! My wife is having a difficult childbirth!"
Li San Niang picked up her medical kit and ran after the man, but there wasn't even a donkey cart outside. The man just kept running forward, and Qiu Xiang had to carry Li San Niang's heavy medical kit halfway through the journey so that Li San Niang wouldn't fall behind.
But when Li San Niang followed the man to the place, she discovered that Yan Niang was actually in a house two streets away from the clinic.
But when Li San Niang entered the courtyard of this house, she discovered that the woman lying on the ground had already died.
He died.
He's been dead for a while now.
Although the body was still warm, the person was already dead.
Li San Niang didn't bother asking anyone. She took a step forward, pushed aside the stunned man blocking her way, and quickly squatted down to see if the woman was dead and if the child in her womb was still alive.
With her X-ray vision activated, Li San Niang only saw the lifeless fetus inside the woman's womb, the unborn fetus with its eyes closed as if asleep.
“Dashan, this is not my fault. On your way to find the doctor, your wife kept bleeding. I, a man, didn’t know what to do. Before you came back, she stopped breathing.”
Li Sanniang knelt beside the woman. The blood seeping from beneath the woman soaked the yellow earth and stained the hem of Li Sanniang's skirt black with a strong, unpleasant smell of blood.
Li San Niang stepped forward and gently stroked the woman's wide eyes, which were filled with resentment or pain. "He is telling the truth. Your wife must have died from a difficult childbirth, a torn uterus, and severe bleeding."
The fetus, trapped in the uterus, suffocated because it couldn't be born in time.
When Li San Niang activated her X-ray vision, she naturally saw the woman's cause of death.
In short: the woman had a narrow pelvis and a disproportionate cephalopelvic structure. During childbirth, in order to deliver the baby, the uterus contracted strongly, causing the lower segment of the uterus to stretch and thin, eventually leading to uterine rupture, massive bleeding, and the death of both mother and child.
Finally, Da Shan bought a straw mat, wrapped Yan Niang in it, and left.
Another thing that saddened Li San Niang was Zhao Yiping, the wife of an official in Yongxingfang, Chang'an.
When Li San Niang met Zhao Yiping, she was with a dozen or so physicians from Chang'an City.
Li San Niang was able to come because Manager Gao had found her in advance: "Madam Zhao's elder brother's wife is the daughter of the previous leader of the alliance. With such a relationship, the alliance issued a decree that each clinic in the ward should send a doctor to her when she came to ask for help."
A group of people had already gone there, but none of them had made Madam Zhao better.
"You're a female doctor, and Madam Zhao is suffering from a postpartum illness, so it would be cheaper for you to go."
Therefore, Li San Niang boarded the carriage sent by the Zhao family on the appointed day. After arriving at the Zhao family and taking her seat in the main hall, Li San Niang discovered that not only was she, the female physician, there, but also several other women who, judging from their attire, appeared to be female assistant physicians from the palace.
The rest of them seemed to be doctors from various neighborhoods of the Chang'an Medical Alliance, and of course, they were all men.
Before going to the inner room to see Zhao Yiping, an elderly woman with gray hair came out and told everyone what had happened.
It turns out that after giving birth, Zhao Yiping was initially fine, only feeling a bit feverish. The Zhao family assumed it was postpartum fever, a common ailment for women after childbirth, and prepared medicine for her to drink as usual.
But to everyone's surprise, after drinking a lot of the medicine, Zhao Yiping's condition did not improve at all.
"Pingniang was in severe pain in her lower abdomen. Even just lying there without touching her caused her unbearable pain."
The lochia was not only more than that of ordinary women, but it also had a foul odor.
The family doctor employed by the Zhao family then stepped forward and explained Zhao Yiping's condition in detail to everyone: "After Madam first experienced chills, we knew that her condition must have worsened. After informing the old lady, we invited Dr. Sun, a renowned gynecologist from the Imperial Medical Academy, to come to our home."
Dr. Sun prescribed a medicine, and after the lady took it, her condition improved significantly.
Not only has the pain in my lower abdomen lessened considerably, but the smell of my lochia has also become much milder.
We were overjoyed, thinking things would be just as good as they seemed.
However, within just five or six days, the lady's condition deteriorated rapidly. Now she is even less lucid, suffering from high fever, chills, and convulsions.
At this moment, the old lady of the Zhao family stepped forward again and said, "I have watched Pingniang grow up since she was a child. According to seniority, I am still her distant aunt."
Although she is not my biological daughter, she is almost like one.
She fell ill while giving birth to my child. Now, I beg you all, if you have the ability, use it. Just name your price—gold and silver—as long as you can save Pingniang's life.”
After a pause, Madam Zhao raised her head and continued, "If she is unlucky and cannot overcome this obstacle, that is her fate, and my family will not blame the doctors for coming."
I urge all physicians not to feel burdened or pressured, but to lend a helping hand.
Although Li San Niang was not highly experienced, she was the first female physician to be officially recognized by the Chang'an Medical Alliance and had a good relationship with the Imperial Medical Bureau, so she was quite well-known among the physicians.
Therefore, Li San Niang could be ranked fifth in the order of being able to see Zhao Yiping alone.
Li San Niang felt that this was partly due to the fact that she was a female doctor.
The palace physician had only been inside for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea when Li San Niang, who was waiting in the outer room, heard a maid screaming inside. Then a maid stumbled out, saying, "Madam, she's having another seizure!"
Li San Niang disregarded everything and rushed in. When the female assistant doctor was at a loss, she asked Old Madam Zhao, who was standing next to her, and then directly performed acupuncture on three major acupoints on Zhao Yiping, stabilizing her condition and stopping her convulsions.
Li San Niang was also taking Zhao Yiping's pulse at the same time, and used her X-ray vision to look at Zhao Yiping's uterus and lower body.
Before Li San Niang had finished taking Zhao Yiping's pulse, Zhao Yiping suddenly regained consciousness.
"Mother, let Qingshu come to see me. I have something I want to say to him."
Having lived for decades and seen her parents-in-law pass away, Old Madam Zhao understood everything when she saw Zhao Yiping's appearance.
It's just a final burst of energy before death; Zhao Yiping is about to die!
Li San Niang and the female doctor were asked to leave by the Zhao family. While they were sitting in the outer room, they saw a thin young man carrying a bundle of blankets rush into the inner room.
A short while later, a series of mournful cries for "Pingniang" echoed from inside the room.
Li San Niang knew that Zhao Yiping was dead, from puerperal infection.
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