Singapore hospital probes case of pregnant woman who was allegedly left unattended for two hours and lost baby

Facebook user Mee Pok Tah said that his wife was 'bleeding profusely' for two hours after she arrived at NUH on March 15, 2022. - ST FILE, MEE POK TAH/FACEBOOK

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Nework): The National University Hospital (NUH) is investigating an incident where a woman, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was allegedly left unattended for two hours at the hospital's Emergency Medicine Department and later lost her baby.

In a Facebook post on Monday (March 21), the woman's husband said no one attended to his wife for two hours after she arrived at NUH in an ambulance on March 15 and was left "bleeding profusely" for about two hours.

In an update of his post on Monday afternoon, he said he received a call on Monday from NUH which informed him that investigations into the matter are ongoing.

He did not respond when The Straits Times tried to contact him on Facebook.

When asked about the incident, NUH directed ST to its Facebook post.

NUH said on Facebook on Tuesday morning (March 22) that it is aware of social media posts and reports regarding the incident and is in touch with the family to provide support during this difficult time.

The NUH post said: "Out of respect for the family, we seek the public's understanding not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident."

The woman's husband, whose Facebook name is Mee Pok Tah, said he called an ambulance after his wife started "bleeding profusely from the birth canal" as she was showering at 9.30pm on March 15.

According to him, paramedics arrived within 10 minutes and his wife was attended to immediately. She was subsequently taken to NUH and reached the hospital at about 10.30pm.

He added that upon their arrival at NUH, a nurse was informed about the condition of his wife, who was still bleeding at the time.

He wrote: "The nurse came and only set up the monitoring device to check on my (wife's) vital signs and left. She was left there bleeding profusely and left unattended for an estimated time of two hours.

"No doctors and nurses came to check and attend to my wife for two hours and no one informed her that there (was) no bed in the maternity ward."

He said his wife was sent to a maternity ward after two hours where she was attended to by doctors and nurses, adding: "After checking on my wife and the baby, the doctors told my wife that the (baby's) heart structure was there but there was no heartbeat and hence he had passed away."

According to Mee Pok Tah's earlier post on March 16, the baby was cremated at Mandai Crematorium.