A woman has given birth in the backseat of a ComfortDelGro taxi, right outside her destination of KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).

According to a spokesperson from ComfortDelGro, Tammy Tan, the incident happened on May 23, where 56-year-old driver Cabby Quek picked up the passenger along Joo Chiat Road at around 10am.

Upon arrival at KKH, the woman paid the taxi fare, but shouted, "I think the baby is coming," before she could get out.

This resulted in Quek running into A&E to ask for help, with a doctor and nurse answering his call, and all three of them helping the woman to deliver the baby in the backseat of the taxi afterwards.

Woman calm throughout the situation

Quek added that the pregnant woman was very calm throughout the situation and did not scream in pain, Tan further stated.

At the time of picking her up, she was holding onto the arm of a second woman and appeared to be in distress.

However, she boarded the taxi alone and laid down on the back seat en route to the hospital.

Said Quek, as per Tan:

"It caught me by surprise as she didn't scream in pain at all. She was very calm and I drove as per normal. This is the first time someone had given birth in my taxi so I am relieved and happy that both mother and child are safe."

Backseat was bloodied

Tan added that the backseat was left bloodied and in a mess in the wake of the woman's birth.

This necessitated Quek stopping for an hour to thoroughly wash the taxi's interior at the nearest petrol kiosk.

However, Quek did not mind.

Tan added that ComfortDelGro was glad that Quek gave a hand and that the company will be compensating him for the downtime and car wash.

Tan also commended Quek for remaining calm and said that ComfortDelGro had since made contact with the mother and child to congratulate them.

Said Tan:

"We don't get many incidents of childbirth in our taxis but when we do, they are all very special. We are glad that Cabby Quek remained calm under pressure and very relieved that mother and child are safe. We have gotten in touch with them to send them our well wishes."

10 reported cases in past 15 years

Tan further highlighted that for Quek, it was his first encounter with a childbirth onboard his taxi, as a driver for 10 years.

Moreover, this incident was also the second childbirth to have happened on board a ComfortDelGro taxi this year, with the first incident earlier in April.

Tan added that for the last 15 years, there has been about 10 reported childbirth cases on board ComfortDelGro taxis.

Top image screenshot from Google Maps