A 36-year-old pregnant woman has died in Tokyo after she was refused treatment for acute headaches by seven hospitals. The refusals came despite the fact her doctor had asked before for urgent treatment and her death has again raised the question of the s

The woman was finally treated for a brain haemorrhage after she gave birth to a child, but she died three days later.

The investigation is to looking into whether the woman’s death was caused by a delay in receiving medical assistance. The staff of the hospitals she went to said a shortage of doctors was a factor in their decisions.

The problem is a pressing one for Japan as it is said to be suffering a shortage of obstetricians, especially in the countryside, due to overwork and the high risk of lawsuits. And tragic cases like the recent one, unfortunately, are not rare in the country.

In August 2006 as many as 18 hospitals refused to take a pregnant woman, and later she died in another hospital. And according to a Japanese government survey nearly 2500 expectant mothers were refused treatment by two or more hospitals while others had to wait for several hours until the ambulance could find one ready to admit a patient.

In a separate case dealing with pregnancy in Japan, some mothers did not even try to find a hospital, not because they didn’t hope to be admitted, but because they didn’t seem to have any sense of responsibility for their baby. In September a 30-year-old woman gave birth in the restroom of an internet cafe near Yokohama Station.

Then she allegedly returned to her booth and went on reading a manga comic book. The baby was then found in a garbage bag and miraculously saved by doctors. Another woman gave birth at a net café and left the baby on the train station.