After giving birth, it’s common practice for new mothers to recuperate and have their baby taken care of in a confinement centre or hire a confinement lady. However, tragedy struck for this unfortunate mother, when her baby was accidentally dropped down a flight of stairs by the confinement lady, resulting in his brain getting blood clots!
Source: Oriental Daily
Earlier this year in January, the mother (who shall be identified as Ng within the article for privacy purposes) hired a nanny to take care of her baby for two more months following her release from the confinement centre, so that she could focus on recuperating fully. According to Oriental Daily, the confinement centre from where she hired the nanny, is a different one from the place she went to after giving birth.
As the duration of the nanny’s services overlapped with the Chinese New Year season, the cost of hiring the nanny for two months was higher than usual, amounting to RM14,300. That’s crazy expensive, we know. However, Ng had faith in the SS2-based confinement centre, which advertised its reliable and trustworthy nannies, who also had two branches already.
Despite the impressive accolades, Ng quickly discovered that the first nanny sent by the confinement centre did not live up to her expectations, even though the centre stated she had over 10 years of experience. Unsatisfied, Ng quickly asked for the confinement centre to provide a new nanny.
At first, all seemed well as the replacement is 50-something years old, putting her at over 10 years younger than her predecessor. She also appeared to be more diligent in looking after her son, and cooked Ng nice meals to boot! Sadly, things would soon take a tragic turn.
On the morning of February 1, the nanny suggested bringing Ng’s son downstairs, so that she could get more rest. However, as she was coming down to the lower floor, the nanny lost her balance, causing her and the baby to fall down the stairs! Ng rushed out after hearing the commotion and was immediately shocked to see blood splatters everywhere.
Source: Oriental Daily
Right away, Ng noticed the nanny was bleeding profusely from her head. Hence, she took her to a clinic to stop the bleeding, before taking her to a hospital to get stitches. As for her baby, he had not made a sound since the fall happened, therefore Ng initially did not suspect anything amiss. After a while, however, she noticed bruises all over his head, and immediately rushed him to Columbia Asia Hospital. The doctor later said that the reason her son had not made a sound earlier was because he had fainted!
After undergoing a CT scan, the full extent of her son’s injuries came to light. He had blood clots in his brain and broken bones in two places. While surgery was recommended at first, the doctor decided that given the age of the infant, it would be better to put him on medication first. Ng said,
“The blood clots currently do not show any signs of dissolving by themselves, so we’ll need to monitor him closely and keep tabs on the development of his brain in the days to come.”
Source: Oriental Daily
As if this wasn’t already distressing enough for a new mother to hear, Ng later found out through the wounded nanny, that she actually suffers from high blood pressure, and had knee surgery in the past which might have caused the nanny to slip and fall.
It is understood that the confinement centre had known the nanny was unfit for duty, especially since Ng lives in a double-storey house. Yet, they had assigned her to Ng anyway. Ng has since lodged a complaint to the centre, but besides staff from the centre paying a visit to her house to check on her and the baby, she claims the centre has not taken further action. She has also requested for compensation or a refund from the centre, only to have her pleas fall on deaf ears.
Oriental Daily states that they have contacted the confinement centre for a comment. Staff from the centre have responded saying that the person-in-charge is currently in Singapore, therefore he/she is unable to issue a formal statement for the time being.
It appears that this is an accident which clearly could have been prevented if the centre had screened their nannies more carefully! We can’t even imagine what the mother is going through right now, but we hope and pray that her infant son will be able to recover.
Also read: Five More Children in Johor Tested Positive for Diphtheria Infection After Death Of 2yo Baby
