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Beware of Siloam Hospitals Bali

I am a British expat based in Bali since 14 months. We had a traumatic experience 3 days ago and would like to share and pre-warn any pregnant expats and local mothers to be careful when using baby delivery services at Siloam Hospitals Bali. We had no doubt in Hospital’s greatest hygienic standards and good pleasant service from an inexperienced staff. However, when it comes to any major surgeries, we are of the opinion now that the hospital isn't ready and is very commercial without ethical training standards.

For past 9 months, each time during our monthly and weekly regular visits, we were advised our unborn baby is an active and healthy growing girl. On Sunday night (03rd August) just 15 minutes before the scheduled C-Section operation, the hospital staff realised that our unborn baby had no heartbeat and had to deliver stillborn (our dreams are cruelly shattered in a matter of two hours).

We visited the Siloam Hospital Bali around 4pm on Sunday (due to less than 10 baby expected moments) and were made to wait in the Accident and Emergency to be seen by on-duty GP – who had no clue about the Gynaecology. Upon calling our regular Gynaec doctor by the duty GP, and at around 5:45, my wife went through Non-Stress Test - NST (to measure baby’s heart beat condition) by an inexperienced midwife (who had only 3 years of experience). It took her nearly Protected content to setup NST and constant difficulty in monitoring the tests. Around 6pm, the baby’s heart was reading an average rate of Protected content per minute evidenced by the NST (to which my wife who is a newly qualified GP herself was not too much worried), but our off duty Gynaec doctor over the phone expressed some concerns relating to baby’s heart beat pattern (after seeing the tests results in an email) and recommended us for an C-Section operation in the same evening. In less than two minutes, we called back Gynecologist doctor and agreed for the recommended C-Section operation – considering we didn’t wanted to risk anything at this final stages (since expected due date was 5th August). Initially our Gynaec doctor advised us for an 8:30pm as the time for scheduled operation and then 15min later, nurse notified us in the change of timings to 9:30pm without any reason. Between 6:30 to 8:10pm, my wife underwent numerous C-Section surgery preparatory works (Blood/Urine tests/Consent signatories) and inexperienced midwife redid a fetal heartbeat tests and no specialist was involved in the process. Even during the fetal heartbeat tests till 8:15pm, midwife had not even raised any concerns directly with us and instead pretended everything was normal. My wife was seen by local anaesthetist doctor at 8:30pm and discussed the plan for her spinal anesthesia. At 9:20pm, just at the front entrance of operation theatre, my wife was reassessed by inexperienced midwives (in presence of Anaesthetist) and wasted another 10/15minutes in doing another fetal heartbeat test. At this point, there was no sign of heartbeat and our Gynecologist specialist was notified after 20minutes after all tries to read the baby’s heartbeat. After Gynecologist assessment using ultrasound scan, I was called into the front section of Operations Theatre around 9:45pm and was told of no heartbeat sign of baby without clear reasoning other than mentioning of matured placenta/umbilical cord might be the cause of baby’s death. We had all our expectations and dreams to carry our baby in hands were shattered in a matter of hours and we couldn’t believe what we were hearing around 10pm (i.e. 6 hours of being in the hospital). My wife had to undergo C-section to remove the stillborn (who was fully grown up 3.4kg baby girl) and this has shattered us in every possible way.

On Friday (01st August), during the regular weekly ultrasound scan check-up even, there were no signs of matured placenta or any notified risks by the same doctor. Until, 7:30pm Sunday (03rd August), we knew baby’s heart was reading at an average rate of Protected content per minute.

During this bereavement period, we had the following questions, which remain vague and unanswered:

• Why Gynaec specialist didn’t informed regarding the matured placenta on Friday noon itself during the regular weekly ultrasound check-up (which happened only 2 days before the tragic)? How could placenta can grow to kill a baby in this short period?
• Why C-Section surgery was not recommended on Friday noon itself, if there was a sign of matured placenta?
• Why there was no earlier Ultrasound Scan done after 1st NST after 6pm (on Sunday), if there was any concern relating to baby’s heartbeat pattern or Umbilical cord issue around baby’s neck?
• Why inexperienced midwife had not involved Gynaec doctor earlier than 9pm before Surgery operation if there were any concerns relating to baby’s no heartbeat sign? Why have inexperienced midwife wasted so much time redoing the same fetal heartbeat test without involving specialists?
• Why Gynaec specialist didn’t even bothered to turn up earlier than 9pm if there was any concern relating to baby’s heartbeat pattern?
• Why was the sugery got delayed till 9:30pm, when it could have been done in an hour after the 1st NST, if there was any concern relating to baby’s heartbeat pattern?

Further to this dismay, I was taken down to cashier/admin section around 2am (04th August) to discuss my dead baby’s storage requirements and was advised of 600K (IDR) as a freezer storage rate and another 400K (IDR) as Mortuary admin fee, to which I wholly accepted to pay in the sorrow of my irrepairable loss. On the very same day (04th August), when I went to collect my dead baby’s body for funeral – I was made to sit and wait for over 30min at the cashier desks from 10:45 to 11:20am to issue a Hospital-Mortuary related invoice and dead body release receipt, even though we had earlier deposited 20million (IDR) as an advance payment with the hospital. Seeing a hospital-Mortuary invoice of 2.9million (IDR) charge showing lots of additonal charges (such as infant room storage charges, even though baby was stillborn and wasn't stored in baby room) and other earlier discussed incremental charges, I asked about the incremental charges relating to the storage and admin fee charges. One staff cashier was quick enough to say that even dead body storage charges falls under three different pricing structure i.e. Local Indonesian (KTP), KITAS holders and Tourists and he believed that the price shown to me last night was for local Indonesians with KTP and I still have to pay the KITAS holder price as a Bali resident in order to able to claim the dead baby body. At this moment of time, I was very saddened even to initiate and argue with admin staff and I simply requested for a dead baby handover in tears for the already delayed funeral service and the head cashier realised my pain and agreed to realease baby’s body since my wife was recovering from the surgey in the hospital’s VIP room. This shows how embarrasing Siloam Hospitals Bali can get from the commercial perspective and shows no regard for humanity even over a dead baby’s body.

My only intension to share this traumatic experience is to pre-warn my fellow expats and local Bali Indonesians and do not want any potential mother and father to be in a irreparable loss situation like us. If any one wish to contact us for an open advise, feel free to call on Protected content .

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