Woman gives birth in Grab car on way to hospital

SINGAPORE — Ms Nur Syazwani and her husband Kamalrulnizam were on the way to the hospital on Wednesday (Aug 7) when their daughter decided to make an early appearance.

Ms Syazwani was expecting to give birth on National Day but began experiencing contractions on Wednesday afternoon.

She was advised by the doctor to be admitted to hospital at about 2pm but they took some time to pack and get ready.

Ms Syazwani wrote in a Facebook post, which has since been made private, that she told her husband to book a Grab car after 5pm when she could no longer bear with the pain.

They were on their way to the hospital when she gave birth at about 7pm along the Central Expressway.

This was about 20 minutes into their ride from Canberra Street to Thomson Medical Centre, Ms Syazwani told CNA.

She wrote in the post that she had tried to wait until they got to the hospital but her body "decided to go into active labour" while they were in the car.

"It was at this point in time I decided to throw my dignity out of the car window ... My body was telling me to push the baby out. I did," she wrote.

When the baby's head first emerged, her husband even tried to push her back, she said. He later caught the baby just as it was born.

"I call this fatherly instinct; the moment I pushed and before our baby could drop onto the leg space between the front and back seat, my husband caught our baby and received her in his arms," Ms Syazwani wrote.

Mr Kamalrulnizam then stuck his arm out the car's window to get other cars to make way for them.

In her Facebook post, she thanked the driver, Mr Chia Shang Heng for being "understanding, kind and tolerant" and for being their "heroic driver".

The car "was like a horrific mass murder scene" with blood everywhere, she wrote.

After sending the couple to Thomson medical Centre, the driver told them it was "alright" and that they should "settle their baby first", she added.

"My husband has been in touch with the driver. He gave him a phone call to apologise and thank him once again and to reimburse him for cleaning service and his business loss," she told CNA. CNA

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