A pregnant Malaysian woman had the shock of her life when her water broke in Singapore. It was two weeks before she was supposed to deliver at a private hospital in Johor Bahru (JB).
Wanting to deliver her baby in JB, she rushed to cross Woodlands Checkpoint accompanied by her husband.
Despite the jam, she was able to get to the JB hospital in time — with help from Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers.
The woman took to Facebook to share her story and the roller coaster of emotions she went through.
In a Facebook post, she mentioned that her son was born on Saturday (25 Mar). That day, she was supposed to take the 7pm train back to JB to prepare for the delivery. However, her water broke at 7am instead.
According to a separate report by The Straits Times (ST), her due date was supposed to be 7 April. This means that the baby came two weeks earlier than expected.
The woman was also still in her Woodlands flat when her water broke, per ST.
The woman wrote in her original post that she realised her bed was soaked when she woke up that morning. Thinking it was pregnancy-related incontinence, she got up to get changed.
However, when she started moving, more liquid started pouring out of her. That was when it dawned upon her that her water had broken, and she was in labour.
She messaged her doctor in JB, put on her safety pants, and took a bus to Woodlands Checkpoint with her husband.
Source: Google Maps, for illustration purposes only
But, as we all know, Woodlands Checkpoint is prone to traffic congestion, on top of the long distance to get to JB. The woman had to brave through the walk to the counters to clear customs, while actively in labour.
When the couple reached Singapore customs, they explained to the ICA officers that her water has broken and needs to rush to JB to give birth. Immediately, three to four ICA officers expedited her clearance process.
They even provided the woman with a wheelchair, to the couple’s surprise. The officers also checked in with them regularly and offered to call an ambulance if needed.
When they cleared customs, she was wheeled to the bus bay to catch a public bus back to JB. But, it was extremely crowded.
So, the officers flagged down an empty bus and instructed the driver to take her where she needed to go. The bus driver was, understandably, shocked by the incident, to the point where he “did not have time to take payment”.
Source: Facebook
The couple faced some trouble at Malaysian customs, however. The woman claimed in her post that the officers took a longer time to let her through immigration, and she was asked to provide supporting documents proving her pregnancy. This frustrated her already anxious husband, who quarrelled with the Malaysian officers.
Even after clearing customs, the woman had to walk a long distance to take the bus to the hospital. This was because the Malaysian officers were not able to provide the couple with a wheelchair.
During the walk, she said she could feel the baby “jumping around”, and felt “more assured” of his safety.
Thankfully, the couple managed to reach the hospital in JB at 9.30am. The woman gave birth to their son sometime around 4.30pm that same day.
Source: Facebook
It must have been a nerve-wracking day for the couple, as they did their best to deliver their baby in their home country.
We are glad to hear that the delivery went well, and the process was made easy for them by Singapore’s ICA officers.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
"Internal and external challenges" have taken a "heavy mental toll", the owner said.
The flat is also one of the top 10 most expensive four-roomers in Singapore.
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The 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.