Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital 5, Aug 06

KK Women's and Children's Hospital (

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: KKH) is the largest public hospital specialising in healthcare for women and children in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, located at 100

Bukit Timah Road Bukit Timah Road (; ms, Jalan Bukit Timah; ta, புக்கித் திமா சாலை) is a major road in Singapore extending from the city centre to Woodlands Road on the way to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The road has a length of 25 ...

. From its humble beginnings as a small

general hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

in 1858 to a 30-bed

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

hospital in 1924, KKH has grown into an 830-bed hospital providing

obstetric Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...

and

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

, neonatology and

paediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

services. Often referred to as "KK" amongst locals, it is the birthplace of a sizeable proportion of Singaporeans, delivering over half of total newborns in the country as early as 1938.

History

The hospital's name comes from the Malay term for "buffalo shed" (''kandang'' = shed / pen + ''kerbau'' = buffalo), reflecting the area's past link with buffalo rearing. While the hospital started as one catering to health care for women, mainly for gynaecology and obstetrics, it has since expanded its role. First, the paediatrics department was added for the care of the babies after delivery, but over the years it expanded into a full paediatric service, treating younger patients for all kinds of illnesses up to teenage. An offshoot, the neonatology service, was then added. Thus the expanded role of the hospital warranted a renaming to KK Women's and Children's Hospital. On 1 October 1924, KKH was converted to a

maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most ...

with 30 beds. It was also used to train students in midwifery and medicine. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, KKH became an emergency general hospital for the population when Japan attacked Singapore. During the

Japanese occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. Japanese military forces occupied it after ...

, the hospital was called Chuo Byoin or Central Hospital. In 1966, the hospital entered the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for delivering the highest number of newborns within a single maternity facility for that year, and it continued to hold on to this record for a full decade, delivering 85% of the population. In March 1997, the hospital moved to its present site. As a result of a restructuring exercise in the local healthcare scene, the hospital became a member of the

Singapore Health Services Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 1 April 2000. In 2003, the old premises was marked as a

historical site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

by the National Heritage Board, a tribute to an institution that has been the birthplace of over 1.2 million Singaporeans since its inception.

References

External links

KK Women's and Children's Hospital3D KK Women's and Children's Hospital Guide
{{Authority control Hospitals established in 1924 Hospitals in Singapore Hospital buildings completed in 1997 Kallang Women's hospitals United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize laureates