Woman pays JB confinement centre $17k, accuses nanny of being rough, changing baby on 'dirty' carpet

The New Paper
December 11, 2023

Chinese mothers traditionally undergo a postpartum confinement period lasting between 30 and 100 days.

A Singapore mum decided to complete hers at a confinement centre in Johor Baru, paying $17,000 for both her and her baby.

The woman, who wanted to be known only as Chong, wrote on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu that her confinement experience at the centre was ruined by the nanny appointed to care for her baby.

Ms Chong and her newborn had gone to the centre on Oct 26 for what would be a recovery period for her, with her baby by her side.

However, after just 10 days at the JB confinement centre, the baby showed symptoms of reflux, reported Shin Min Daily News on Dec 9. Milk would back up and spurt from the baby's mouth and nose.

Upon reviewing closed circuit television footage, Ms Chong saw that the nanny, Ms Huang, did not insert the anti-reflux straw into the bottle as instructed and was apparently rough in burping the baby. Ms Huang also placed the baby on the carpet to change the diaper and switched on the light that was shining directly onto the baby's bed.

"The baby's immunity is still weak, to change him on the dirty carpet is very unhygienic," said Ms Chong.

The confinement centre informed the Chinese daily that an investigation was ongoing since "Ms Chong's allegations were backed up by CCTV footage" but the nanny refused to admit any wrongdoing.

Ms Huang, 56, told Shin Min Daily News: "I have been a confinement nanny for more than 10 years and know the appropriate force to use when burping the baby. It might look like it was very forceful but the baby wasn't harmed. When feeding, a baby would definitely struggle and move about, I didn't force him to drink."

She explained that she had placed a piece of cloth on the carpet before placing the baby on it to change the diaper and did not insert the straw as there was no time for it.

"Night feeds are hurried affairs, so I didn't have time to put the straw into the bottle. Same for the lights, I don't know which switch was for which light, as long as the room had some light," added Ms Huang.

"She also told others not to hire me. I don't agree that I'm at fault, so I won't apologise."