Baby died after mum took abortion pills and gave birth in toilet; coroner records an open verdict

SINGAPORE – Wanting to terminate her pregnancy, an unmarried young woman consumed abortion pills she had bought online and gave birth later that day to a baby girl in a bathroom of her home.

The infant died less than two hours later. An autopsy revealed that her gestational age was around 29 to 33 weeks.

The baby’s mother, who was then around 23 years old, later told investigators that she did not undergo legal abortion as she found the procedure to be expensive, and she was afraid her parents would find out about it.

The names of all parties in this case have been redacted from court documents, which referred to the mother as Miss FQ.

Following an inquiry on July 11, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda stated in his findings that the baby’s cause of death in July 2024 could not be ascertained and declared an open verdict.

According to the Singapore Medical Association’s website, an “open verdict” means that the cause of death cannot be reasonably ascertained based on the evidence produced in an inquiry.

The state coroner said it was probable that Miss FQ’s consumption of the pills had an effect on her body.

However, he noted that the active ingredient, if any, in the medication could not be established as there were no pills left, and she had thrown away their packaging.

The online seller was also no longer contactable, and Miss FQ had claimed that she could not recall the name of the abortion pills.

The state coroner said that mifepristone and misoprostol, which are abortion medicines, were not detected in the toxicological analysis of the baby’s post-mortem samples.

He added: “While there would appear to be a temporal relationship between Miss FQ’s consumption of the pills and the subsequent delivery of the deceased, it could not be established unequivocally that her consumption of the pills had the effect of terminating her pregnancy prematurely.”

A doctor had also found that there were no external or internal injuries, or natural disease process that could have caused the baby’s death.

In mid-2024, Miss FQ was concerned that she might be pregnant after she had protected and unprotected sex with a man, with whom she had a relationship since August 2023.

She bought a pregnancy test kit and tested herself, but received a negative result.

On June 28, 2024, she sent WhatsApp messages to two clinics to ask how much a consultation would cost.

One of the clinics replied that it would cost around $150, and a scan, around $120.

The clinic representative also told her that MediSave could be used only upon surgery, but not for consultation.

Miss FQ told the second clinic she wanted an abortion. One of its representatives told her that the first consultation, including an ultrasound scan, would cost about $250 to $3,000, depending on the complexity and the time spent.

Miss FQ did not make appointments with the clinics.

According to her, she was browsing on a social media platform in July 2024 when she saw a post from someone selling abortion pills.

She then transferred RM500 (S$150) to a woman for eight such pills, and received them later that month.

According to instructions from the seller, Miss FQ had to consume four pills at one time and then the remaining four pills six hours later.

She did as instructed on the morning of July 15, 2024, and felt feverish when she woke up at around 11am.

She then drifted in and out of sleep, and woke up in the afternoon when she felt pain in her lower abdomen.

At around 5.45pm, she went to a bathroom in her flat as she felt an urge to defaecate, and called out to her mother, identified as Madam R, when the pain intensified.

The older woman checked on her daughter, called for an ambulance and went to a neighbour’s flat to ask for help.

Meanwhile, Miss FQ gave birth to her daughter, and both Madam R and the female neighbour later saw the baby lying on the bathroom floor.

State Coroner Nakhoda said: “Miss FQ recalled seeing (the baby) ‘jerk a few times, and she made sounds which sounded like a mix between coughing and clearing its throat’.”

Madam R could not recall if the baby moved or made any sound, while the neighbour stated that the girl was not crying or moving.

Two ambulances arrived at the flat soon after, and both mother and child were rushed to hospital.

The baby was pronounced dead shortly before 7.30pm that day, while Miss FQ was discharged on July 17, 2024.