KOTA BHARU - "Our baby was mistreated until he passed away. It wasn't due to choking on milk as initially reported.”
This was expressed by the father of a 30-day-old baby boy who died while under the care of a nurse at a postpartum care centre, here.
Choo Kamin, 30, claimed the truth was uncovered when they watched the incident that befell their firstborn, Choo Jyn Hern, through a closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording at the care centre's room.
He said that the baby, whom they had been waiting for three years, was allegedly treated harshly by the nurse, leading to severe trauma for his wife, Yap Pei Yin, 29, as the incident happened on her birthday, Sept 9.
"Even now, my wife's emotions are unstable and every time she tries to pump breast milk, she breaks down crying, remembering our child.
"I chose the postpartum care centre to get the best treatment for both my wife and baby. We paid RM13,000 for 28 days of care.
"We were supposed to leave the centre on Sept 10, but the incident occurred a day earlier," he told reporters when met at his home in Kampung Teluk Panji here on Wednesday.
Earlier, the family received a visit from Kota Lama state assemblywoman Dr Hafidzah Mustakim.
Following the incident, Choo and his family planned to take legal action against the postpartum care centre and hand over the case involving the nurse to the police for further investigation.
He added that the incident had not only traumatised his wife but also his mother, Gan Pheck Chin, 60, who had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her grandson.
"To this day, my mother remains heartbroken and we hope that justice will be served for what happened to our child," he said.
It was reported that a 30-day-old baby boy passed away after being found unconscious following a feeding by the nurse in charge of his care at a postpartum centre in Kota Bharu on Monday.
Kota Bharu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Rosdi Daud said that the police received a report regarding the incident at 5.30am.
He said the report received was related to negligence that led to the death of the baby.
Today, the nurse involved was remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation.
The remand order for the 22-year-old woman, starting from Wednesday until the following Tuesday, was issued by Magistrate Rais Imran Hamid.
This is to allow the police to conduct investigations under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.