Maid suffers stomachache after 5 months of work -- and gives birth to baby girl

A maid was taken to hospital after complaining of a stomachache — and gave birth to a baby girl the next day.

Ms Yun Xuejiao, 47, told Lianhe Zaobao that her Indonesian maid Renny, 37, had arrived in Singapore sometime in June 2022. She worked for a family in Yishun for three months, then spent one month unemployed at the maid agency before arriving at Ms Yun's home on October 31, 2022.

In December last year, Ms Yun received a notice from the Ministry of Manpower to send Renny for a routine medical screening, which checks for pregnancy and infectious diseases every six months.

Due to a busy work schedule, Ms Yun asked Renny to visit a clinic in Simei by herself on December 19. Results showed that everything was normal and the maid could continue to work.

However, after just five months of work on March 22, 2023, the maid suddenly felt unwell and complained of a stomachache.

Ms Yun told Renny to apply medicated oil and rest, but her condition did not improve. She then called 995 and sent Renny to the hospital.

The following day, Renny called to inform that she had given birth to a baby girl in the hospital.

Ms Yun was shocked by the news, as she and her family had no idea that Renny was pregnant.

She said: "Renny is on the chubby side and wears loose-fitting clothes. She didn't look pregnant at all."

Ms Yun believes that Renny had deliberately concealed her pregnancy from the start, adding that there is no way the maid did not know she was pregnant or notice any bodily changes as she had given birth to children in Indonesia before.

After being discharged from hospital, Renny spent the night at Ms Yun's house as she was turned away by the maid agency.

When questioned, Renny admitted that she had not gotten her period. She also apologised to her employers and said her newborn daughter belonged to her Indonesian husband.

This confirmed Ms Yun's suspicions that Renny had intentionally kept her pregnancy hidden. She also suspected that Renny had tampered with her medical screening results.

Ms Yun added: "I regret trusting her too much and letting her do the medical screening by herself. If I had accompanied her and supervised from the sidelines, I could have discovered this earlier."

A doctor at the clinic in question told reporters that they had indeed conducted a urine test for the maid and that the results did not show that she was pregnant. However, they were unclear as to how the maid could have given birth three months later and said it was their first time encountering such a thing.

The maid agency subsequently sent Renny to the Indonesian embassy. She and her baby daughter flew back to Indonesia on April 8.

When contacted by the media, the agency said that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has closed the case and declined to comment further.

Ms Yun, who called herself a victim in the matter, said she had forked out more than $2,000 in medical expenses, which she feels the maid agency should bear.

In response to queries by Zaobao, MOM said it is aware of the incident. It is currently in contact with Ms Yun and the maid agency to investigate the matter.

MOM also shared that between 2019 and 2021, an average of 170 maids per year were found to be pregnant. This is less than 0.1% of the total number of foreign domestic workers in Singapore.