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LAST year, doctors told a security guard and his wife, who was then six months pregnant, that their baby had heart abnormalities and would need major surgery after birth.
An abortion was recommended, but the couple decided to have the baby.
Nur Munawwara Muhammad Nur Asman, born on Sept23 last year at the KK Women's & Children's Hospital, never left the hospital in her short life. She died aged three months, despite two big operations.
State Coroner Victor Yeo yesterday recorded her death as a misadventure.
After she had undergone a heart bypass on Dec 26 last year, her condition remained unstable. She had a second operation a week later.
On Jan 2 this year, her parents told the doctors that their child was suffering needlessly and asked them not to operate on her again.
The baby died three days after that.
An autopsy revealed that she had died of an infection following surgery for complex congenital heart disease.
Her parents were not at the coroner's hearing yesterday. The court heard that the doctors had told the baby's 26-year-old father and his wife that the child's heart abnormalities were life-threatening and that major surgery was a certainty.
Obstetricians and gynaecologists told The Straits Times that advances in prenatal diagnostics had allowed doctors to detect an ever wider range of abnormalities in the unborn.
Dr Beh Suan Tiong, 46, who has been in obstetrics and gynaecology for 17 years, said that these abnormalities ranged from mild malfunctions to severe ones. They occurred in 3 per cent of pregnancies.
Breaking the grim news to the parents-to-be creates a sensitive and emotive situation, he said, so doctors run further tests and consult their colleagues to be certain that the diagnosis is correct.
'The parents deserve to know that their child faces years of medical treatment in the future,' he added.
In his experience, two to three in every 10 parents-to-be refused to accept the diagnosis, because they hoped it was wrong or were hoping for a miracle, he said.
Hairdresser Vicki Ng, 37, aborted her first baby 11 years ago on her doctor's advice, as it had been found to have a brain abnormality.
The doctor had said that she and her husband were still young and could try for another child.
Said Ms Ng, who is now a mother of three: 'It was a tough call, but we did not want to take the chance of bringing a handicapped child into this world.
'But, until today, I wonder if the doctor was right.'
khush@sph.com.sg
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