MATARAM CITY (WEST NUSA TENGGARA) • An Indonesian woman's baby died in her womb after Covid-19 test requirements delayed the labour care she needed, her family said.

Ms Gusti Ayu Arianti, 23, from Mataram city, capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, went to a local hospital on Tuesday after her water broke.

She asked for the medical team to immediately handle her but was told to first take a Covid-19 rapid test at a different location.

She said the hospital did not provide the virus test and so she had to travel to a community health centre to take one.

"My water had broken, I had lost a lot of blood since I was at home, but I was not immediately treated," Ms Gusti told Kompas.com.

Arriving at the community health centre, Ms Gusti was not immediately checked, and was even asked to join a line of people taking the test before her husband complained.

She asked for a doctor to check on her baby, but was told to wait for the test result, which took 30 minutes.

When she returned to the hospital with the result, it did not acknowledge her test certificate as it was not attached to her test kit, so she had to take another test.

The doctor who eventually attended to her initially said the unborn baby's heart rate was weak.

Ms Gusti later underwent a C-section but the baby boy was declared dead.

The doctor said the baby had died in the womb a few days earlier, which the family rejected.

"If he died seven days ago, it would be dangerous for the mother, and there would be some putrefaction. But the (body)... looked fresh," Ms Gusti's father Ketut Mahajaya said.

Wira Bhakti Mataram Army Hospital head Yudi Akbar Manurung confirmed that Ms Gusti had visited the hospital but said she chose not to take a rapid test there as it was not free.

West Nusa Tenggara Health Agency head Eka Nurhandini said a rapid test was mandatory for pregnant women about to deliver, to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

She said the test would determine how the medical workers handled them.

THE JAKARTA POST/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK