State health director Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman said the allegations, which went viral on Facebook on Dec 11, involved a woman who was allegedly not treated equally when she went into labour at the hospital.

“There is no discrimination or double standard in the treatment given to the woman. In fact, Hospital Melaka fully complied with SOPs for Covid-19 management of pregnant women,” he said in a statement here today.

Rusdi said the 39-year-old woman, who was 37 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, came to the hospital’s maternity ward pre-assessment counter at around 11pm on Nov 28 after her water broke.

“Preliminary examination by the doctor found that she had been showing symptoms of flu including loss of her sense of smell for the past two days. She was then ordered to take the RTK Antigen (RTK-Ag) test for early detection of Covid-19.

“Her result came back positive and she was categorised as ‘Probable Covid-19 Category 2’ and was ordered to be placed in the Covid-19 patient isolation room in the maternity ward,” he added.

Rusdi said that at 7.25am on Nov 29, staff on duty heard the woman scream for help as she had a major contraction and they promptly made preparations for delivery, but eight minutes later, the woman gave birth while she was alone in the isolation room before the staff could even help with the childbirth process.

He said both mother and baby were in good condition.

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