Life and death in the delivery room

Dr Sidney Au Yeung Kam-chuen
Chief of Service (Obstetrics & Gynaecology) Tuen Mun Hospital / Pok Oi Hospital (current Consultant)

The delivery room is a place where life and death can exist side by side. The joy of a baby’s arrival in the world sometimes collides with an emergency. Dr Sidney Au Yeung Kam-chuen points out that an obstetrician has to rise to the occasion and make a quick decision. He generously passes on his expertise to doctors by providing trainings and sharing his 30-year clinical experience.

He recalls about 10 years ago, a pregnant woman suffered uterine rupture and went into cardiac arrest after giving birth to a baby. Obstetric team and intensive care physicians performed resuscitation. Fortunately, she was saved with the aid of anesthesiologists, surgeon, radiologist, staff from labour ward, operating theatre and blood bank. She recovered following months-long stay in intensive care unit.

Dr Au Yeung reflects how important it is for an obstetrician to make prompt decisions in emergencies, and lead the team through difficult times. He passes his knowledge on in the training of doctors, as well as clinical teaching on wards and in specialist outpatient clinics. Dr Au Yeung had been Chief of Service for more than 10 years and believes colleagues will only stay if they are happy in their work. “I try to create a good working environment so that frontline clinicians can focus on their clinical duties, and leave the rest to people like me,” he says. Dr Au Yeung was also the Chairman of Coordinating Committee in Obstetrics & Gynaecology (O&G) of Hospital Authority, managing the mobilisation of manpower across clusters to ensure the provision of O&G service during the time of COVID-19.

In past years, women in the New Territories West Cluster had to go to multiple locations for O&G services. Dr Au Yeung centralised the service in an ambulatory gynaecology centre, providing one-stop examinations for ultrasound, endometrial aspiration, and laparoscopy. “Centralisation can save patients’ travelling time. Meanwhile, doctors can have a better understanding of the condition of individual pregnant woman, enabling the building of a mutual trust relationship,” he explains.

Dr Au Yeung says Hong Kong’s O&G service is among the best in the world. He hopes to see more young doctors joining O&G to maintain service quality.