Police are searching for a midwife who performed an illegal delivery in which a woman gave birth to a dead baby and then died herself on Monday morning.

Hu Mei, a 29-year-old migrant worker, died on the way to a hospital after her family sent her to a crude clinic run by a midwife without a license near their home in Houjiajiao Village, Minhang District of Shanghai, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

Hu's female baby was stillborn at the illegal clinic. Complications from the delivery put Hu's life in danger. The midwife wrongly gave her three injections with improper medicine and Hu died from excessive blood loss, according to the newspaper.

Health officials said many migrant women have given birth at illegal clinics due to financial difficulties.

Many women suffer diseases and some even die after using unqualified services at such clinics. In 2003, 29 pregnant died giving birth and 23 were migrant women.

The midwife apparently refused to send Hu to a hospital, according to the report. One hour after the dead baby was delivered, Hu and another mother who also just gave birth, were sent to Changning District Central Hospital by their respective families.

According to a doctor in the department of obstetrics, Hu and her baby were dead upon arrival. The other mother and her daughter are still in hospital and both are in stable condition, the doctor said.

The midwife, an Anhui Province native, and her assistant fled.

Minhang police said they have caught one of the suspects, but refused to reveal if she was the midwife or the assistant.

To provide qualified and inexpensive services for migrant women, the Shanghai Health Bureau designated 10 hospitals as delivery centers for women from other provinces in July 2004. All are in the suburbs.

The cost for delivery service is 800 yuan (US$96) at these centers, while the usual cost in hospitals is about 2,500 yuan. The Oriental Morning Post said midwives usually charge 400 yuan to 500 yuan.

(eastday.com July 6, 2005)