A pregnancy woman in the south-central province Quang Ngai has lost her six-week-old fetus after a midwife mistakenly gave her an abortion pill instead of pregnancy support drugs.

Phan Thi Van, the midwife in question, has been temporarily suspended from her work at the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital as an investigation is underway, doctors confirmed on Friday.

On Wednesday, Luong Thi Tuong, in her sixth week of pregnancy, was admitted to the hospital after she suffered fetal derangement.

Later the same day, Tuong was given medication by Van to alleviate her condition.

However, on the following morning, Tuong developed pains in her sub-abdominal part and started to bleed at around noon that day.

The pregnant patient underwent an ultrasound scan and later had vaginal wash at the hospital on Thursday, before doctors told her and her husband that their fetus was lost.

Tran Dinh Trung, husband of the pregnant woman, talks with reporters about the incident happening to his wife.

It turned out that the medication mistakenly given by the midwife was Misoprostol, which is used to cause abortion.

Preliminary investigation found that the doctor in charge of Tuong’s case prescribed the correct medication. However, the midwife took the wrong one, resulting in the tragic incident.

The abortion pill was meant for a patient being treated in the sickbed next to Tuong’s and the midwife apparently mistook which medicine was prescribed for which patient.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tuyen, director of the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, has sent apologies to the woman’s family and promised a full investigation into the matter.