Thorough probe into Likas stillbirth incident, says Sabah Health director

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Health Department is closely monitoring as well as giving counselling to a woman who experienced a stillbirth at a government hospital here on Sunday (June 19).

State Health director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin also conveyed the department’s condolences to the woman and her family for the incident at the Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas here that went viral on social media.

The woman’s sibling posted a message on the matter on Facebook and it quickly made the rounds.

“The department confirms that the incident occurred at the Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas on June 19,” Dr Rose said in a statement here Tuesday (June 22).

“The mother of the stillborn baby is in stable condition and is under further treatment as well as being given counselling by the hospital at this time.

“A detailed and transparent investigation is being carried out by the department,” she added.

Dr Rose said the state health authorities viewed the incident seriously.

“We are looking closely at all the feedback we have been receiving with the objective of improving the quality of our services,” she added.

In the viral message posted by the baby’s aunt on Facebook, her sister – the child’s mother – was allegedly overdue but the medical staff on duty had just told her to "suppress" her contractions.

The sister claimed the hospital medical staff only gave her sibling “some medication” to hold her contractions, saying this was normal as it was her first delivery.

She claimed that her sister fought her contractions for 14 hours until she could not stand the pain any longer before the doctors then allegedly gave her painkillers.

The woman claimed that her sister did not receive immediate attention after this and that when someone did eventually come to check on her, the baby’s heartbeat had already dropped.

She further alleged that an emergency Caesarean section was subsequently performed but that her sister later woke up to find her baby had died.