Heartbreaking photo of woman carrying her dead baby on public transport goes viral, hospital denies not providing transport

The grief from losing one’s child is unimaginable, but one hospital in Bandar Lampung has been accused of making it even more unbearable for one woman after they allegedly failed to provide her with an ambulance to transport her dead baby home.

On Wednesday, Instagram account @seputar_lampung, which shares news and viral content related to the Sumatran province, posted this heartbreaking photo on their profile:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZQlXBQAOcg/?taken-by=seputar_lampung

According to information in the photo’s caption, the woman was carrying the body of her one-month-old baby, who died while being treated at the state-run Abdul Moeloek Hospital (RSUD AM) in Bandar Lampung. According to her, she had to take an angkot minivan home because the hospital did not provide them with an ambulance. She suspected that the hospital disregarded them because her baby’s treatment was only covered by the BPJS national health plan.

After the photo went viral, RSUD AM’s management denied that they had refused to transport the deceased infant home in an ambulance. According to the hospital, they had to sort out an administrative issue because the baby’s treatment was covered under the mother’s BPJS card instead of its own.

“The ambulance crew wanted to clarify this problem first and they asked for a little time before driving (the baby home). This is the standard operational procedure of the hospital. Maybe the family wanted to go home in a hurry. At the time, we had an ambulance ready near the hospital’s exit,” said RSUD AM Service Director Pad Dilangga, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.

“Anyone leaving RSUD AM must adhere to administrative requirements. Maybe the family wasn’t patient enough to wait.”

The hospital confirmed that they had the baby in their care after it was admitted with severe asphyxia and seizures on Monday afternoon. The baby passed away on Wednesday afternoon in the hospital’s ICU.

While no lawsuits have been filed against the hospital, rights groups are pressuring the Health Ministry to investigate RSUD AM over this case to see if there was any discrimination against BPJS card holders who had medical facilities all patients are legally entitled to withheld.