NUH probing claim of pregnant woman left bleeding for 2 hours in emergency

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, 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, the 37-year-old engineer 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 yesterday 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 taken to NUH and reached the hospital at about 10.30pm.

The man, who declined to be named, told Chinese-language evening daily Shin Min Daily News on Monday night that he did not join his wife at NUH as he had tested positive for Covid-19.

He said he asked a female friend to join his wife at the hospital.

His wife, 37, a financial consultant, told Shin Min that she was still bleeding profusely at the hospital but no one checked on her.

The man wrote on Facebook: "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...

"No doctors and nurses came to check and attend to my wife for two hours."

He said his wife was taken after two hours to a maternity ward, where she was attended to by doctors and nurses.

He added: "The doctors told my wife... there was no heartbeat and hence he has passed away."

The woman told Shin Min that the doctors checked multiple times for the baby's heartbeat, but eventually said there was no way to save him. She added that her baby's expected due date was April 14.

Shin Min reported that the couple have two other sons, aged two and seven.

The woman said she went through surgery to remove the foetus on March 16 and held her son in her arms and said goodbye to him.

According to Mee Pok Tah's Facebook post, the baby was cremated on the same day.