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A week after an incident involving a nine-month pregnant woman who lost her baby after she was allegedly left unattended at the National University Hospital's (NUH) emergency department came to light, the woman's husband has provided an update.

The husband, surnamed Tham, shared in a Facebook post on Mar. 31 that his wife, surnamed Lee, might not have lost the baby at the emergency department.

On the day of the incident, Lee was informed after waiting for two hours that her baby had no heartbeat.

Clarified that staff had checked on his wife at intervals

Tham started off his post by expressing his gratitude to NUH, and stating that "there are facts that have been clarified after a few meetings with NUH".

In his first Facebook post on Mar. 21, Tham said Lee was bleeding profusely from the birth canal while bathing at home.

She then arrived at NUH's ED at around 10:30pm.

Tham updated in his new post that although Lee was bleeding profusely at home, the bleeding had "subsided" by the time she arrived at the emergency department.

However, her bleeding had not stopped.

He also clarified that nurses did indeed check on Lee at intervals.

In his first post, he claimed that his wife was left unattended for two hours at the emergency department, and was only attended to properly after she was sent to the maternity ward at around 12:48am.

Might not have lost baby at NUH ED

Tham said that based on the information provided by NUH, he and Lee realised that they might not have lost the baby at the hospital.

He also apologised for creating speculation, which led to the "abuse" of NUH staff.

Instead, Tham would like to thank NUH for saving his wife.

"Based on the information provided by the hospital, we realised that the miscarriage may not have occurred at the hospital E&D.

I recognised and apologised that my original post on FB has created unintended speculation and abuse of staffs. After clarifications on the the facts with the hospital, i would like to thank them for saving my wife."

Tham concluded that the matter has since been resolved, and he and his wife will not be making any further comments on the case.

You can read Tham's full post here.

NUH previously apologised for two-hour wait

Previously in an apology on Mar. 24, NUH's Chief Executive Officer, Aymeric Lim shared that Lee was attended to immediately upon arrival at the emergency department.

She was noted to be stable, and her bleeding had subsided on the way to the hospital, Lim said.

Lee was assessed to have a pain score of two out of 10, and placed next to a nursing station for closer visual monitoring.

However, Lim did acknowledged that Lee's two-hour wait should not have been the case.

"She waited for two hours and this should not have been the case in this circumstance, and we are sorry. During this time, we should have done more to provide closer monitoring and care, as well as to update the patient of her condition and the transfer."

NUH revealed that the absence of a fetal heartbeat is caused by placental abruption, a "rare and unpredictable pregnancy complication".

Lim further explained that the hospital staff had been experiencing a higher workload, as all Covid-19-positive pregnant women over 36 weeks are admitted to NUH and two other public hospitals for care and delivery.

Although it was "challenging to maintain the hospital’s high standards for care amidst the Covid-19 outbreak", Lim said the hospital staff still have a duty of care towards patients.

He added that when Lee arrived at the emergency department, the hospital was managing three other expectant patients with Covid-19 in there and the labour ward.

The hospital staff in these wards were "kept very busy having to manage all these urgent cases".

Lim said NUH will review the process of managing expectant patients who are admitted into emergency department when the labour ward is full to ensure such incidents do not happen again.

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Top photo from Mee Pok Tah / FB and NUH website