S'pore woman, 22, gives birth to baby in toilet after taking abortion pills bought online, newborn dies in hospital

A 22-year-old woman gave birth in a toilet after taking abortion pills she had purchased online, suspecting she might be pregnant.

She experienced pain similar to menstrual cramps and felt the urge to defecate.

The pain eventually worsened, and she ended up delivering the baby in the toilet.

The baby was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

An inquiry was held at the Coroner's Court on Jul. 11, 2025, to investigate the cause of death.

What happened

The woman began dating a man in August 2023, and they would have sex two to three times a month.

Between April and June 2024, the woman told the man she had not had her period since April and was concerned that she might be pregnant.

The boyfriend was unconcerned at that time as he knew she had irregular periods.

In mid-2024, the woman purchased a pregnancy test kit and tested herself, which turned out to be negative.

However, she suspected she was pregnant as she realised that she was "becoming bigger", though she was too scared to test again in case it was true.

She asked several women's clinics in Singapore for their consultation and abortion fees, but did not go through with it.

In the second week of July 2024, she saw an advertisement online for abortion pills and decided to purchase them for RM500 (S$150).

She told her boyfriend she intended to take the pills "to make her menstrual period come".

She had not informed him that the pills were abortion pills as she did not "want to scare him".

Following the seller's instructions, the woman took four pills at approximately 1am on Jul. 15, and took the remaining four around 6am to 7am.

She then began to feel feverish, and drifted in and out of sleep until around 4pm to 5pm.

During this period, she felt pain in her lower stomach, which "felt like period cramps".

At around 5:30pm to 5:45pm, she went to the kitchen toilet as she felt the urge to defecate.

The woman then began experiencing intense pain and called out for her mother.

The woman gave birth while the mother was calling for an ambulance.

The woman and her child were both rushed to the hospital.

The baby was pronounced dead on the evening of Jul. 15 at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

The gestational age was estimated to be between 29 to 33 weeks.

As the cause of death could not be determined, the coroner returned an open verdict.

Top image via Canva