JOHOR BARU, Sept 2 — Johor Health director Datuk Dr Aman Rabu has acknowledged a complaint from a Covid-19 positive woman who gave birth unassisted while warded at the Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) two months ago.
He promised a detailed investigation of the incident and remedial measures to prevent a recurrence.
“The complaint received was justified and the department would take the necessary corrective measures,” Dr Aman said in a statement posted on the Johor Health Department’s official Facebook page last night.
Dr Aman also recounted the events that led to the woman’s solo delivery in the hospital isolation room on July 23.
He said the 35-year-old woman was examined by a medical officer and found in the early stages of birth at 5.33am on July 23 and admitted to the HSI isolation room at 10.18am the same day as she was a Covid-19 patient.
He added that the woman was also scheduled to undergo Caesarean surgery to deliver the baby, her fourth child.
A medical staff had also checked in on the woman at 4.26pm that day.
However, Dr Aman said the patient suddenly experienced labour contractions and went into labour earlier than expected.
“The patient's delivery process took place unexpectedly, which was earlier than the expected delivery time by about six hours.
“The patient gave birth alone and the newborn baby was found in the patient's bed,” he said.
He also said that the woman’s room was located a distance from the nurse’s station, to explain why no one responded immediately to her cries for help.
He also said that as the woman was Covid-19 positive, medical staff were required to wear protective clothing when attending to her, adding that this took time to put on.
The woman had related the incident on her Facebook page on July 31, but the issue was only reported last month.
In her post, the woman claimed that she could hear laughter from outside the closed doors of her hospital room.
Dr Aman said the sound could have been the sound made by a vacuum extractor to assist in another delivery from another room nearby.
He said the department will take the necessary remedial action based on the incident.
