$17k for stay at JB confinement centre, but mum claims nanny violently burped and force-fed baby, changed him on dirty carpet

A new mum spent $17,000 to go through her confinement at a confinement centre in Johor Bahru after giving birth, but felt that the service had fallen short of expectations.

The woman from Singapore shared how her experience was marred by the nanny that was assigned to care for her and her baby, reported Shin Min Daily News on Saturday (Dec 9).

Some of the nanny's alleged misdemeanours include changing the baby's diapers on a dirty carpet, force-feeding and violently burping the baby, said the woman.

The mother, surnamed Chong, stated that she had gone to the centre on Oct 26 this year with her newborn. "They arranged for a confinement nanny to help care for the baby, but the service was very poor," said Chong.

Chong shared that after 10 days at the centre, the baby began to exhibit symptoms of reflux, with milk backing up and spurting from his mouth and nose.

Upon viewing the CCTV footage, Chong discovered that the nanny was not following instructions given, such as using a bottle with a special straw when feeding the baby to prevent gas buildup in the baby.

Chong alleged that the footage also showed the nanny changing the baby's diapers on the carpet instead of on the changing table.

"The baby's immunity is still weak, to change him on the dirty carpet is very unhygienic," said Chong. Chong also alleged that the nanny had forcefully burped the baby and forced him to drink milk even when he wasn't hungry.

Chong's instruction "since the first day" to not use a light which shone directly on the baby's bed was also ignored, she claimed.

Chong also stated that the confinement centre had apologised after she lodged a complaint. She posted about her experience on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, to which the centre also responded.

"I spent $17,000 to do my confinement there. Overall, save for the confinement nanny, the service at the centre was not bad. I felt I should have received an apology from the nanny, but she refused."

When contacted by Shin Min, the person in charge of the confinement centre told the paper that an investigation was launched following Chong's complaint and that even though the nanny had refused to admit her mistake, she was unable to support her stance.

"Chong's allegations were backed up by CCTV footage, which is why we issued a statement acknowledging the nanny's behaviour."

The centre stated that it understood Chong's sentiments and it "does not wish for guests to feel wronged in any way".

In an interview with Shin Min, however, the 56-year-old confinement nanny claimed that she had been maligned by Chong and did not in any way ill-treat the newborn.

Said the woman, surnamed Huang: "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."

Huang added that although she had changed the baby on the carpet, but she had placed a piece of cloth on the carpet beforehand. But she admitted that she did not use the straw in the bottle during night feeds, citing the lack of time.

"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," claimed Huang.

"[Chong] also told others not to hire me. I don't agree that I'm at fault, so I won't apologise," she added.


ALSO READ: Mum who paid $31k to stay at Newton confinement centre says newborn contracted Covid-19 there

candicecai@asiaone.com