Adelaide obstetrician Dr John Svigos’ partnership with Bali hospital has saved the lives of new mothers

This Adelaide obstetrician has delivered thousands of babies here but a chance encounter in Indonesia is now being credited with saving countless mums too.

Renowned Adelaide obstetrician Associate Professor John Svigos AM — who has delivered thousands of babies for generations of South Australian families — took a walk during a holiday in Bali that literally saved lives.

Dr Svigos ended up at the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar — since renamed the Prof Ngoerah Hospital — and was “bowled over” by the kindness of staff who showed him around the island’s main teaching hospital.

He could see room for improvement and returned home with a mission to help as best he could.

That was in 1998 – when the number of women who died during childbirth in Bali was 170 per every 100,000 women.

Dr Svigos began taking over a team of doctors, midwives and nurses to the Sanglah Hospital to volunteer their time and pass on their expertise every year and encourage change, such as multidisciplinary care.

Dr John Svigos and baby twins Lucia and Anna Centofanti who were born on the 5th of September 2014 at the WCH. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

In 2010 an official partnership between the Sanglah Hospital and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital was established.

Dedicated members of the WCH partnership now include obstetric anaesthetist and convener Dr Anu Raju, obstetrician and co-convener Dr Sarah Cash and midwife Jenni Magor, while a host of people such as obstetrician Dr Rosalie Grivell have made important contributions.

Adelaide University and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists also are involved.

The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department building at Prof Ngoerah (Sanglah) Hospital. Bali.

“This collaboration has shown a significant improvement of maternal mortality to 70 per 100,000 live births,” Dr Svigos said.

Australia’s maternal mortality rate was 4.8 per 100,000 women in 2022.

Dr Svigos, whose name has appeared in countless birth notices in The Advertiser and Sunday Mail from grateful families, stresses it is a two-way relationship, with mutual respect.

Self-funded Australian volunteers pass on knowledge with hands-on teaching, while learning how to manage women and their babies with a low-resource base.

“It teaches us about the necessity of having the basics of health, clean water, good nutrition, all those basic things we take for granted,” Dr Svigos, a visiting professor at the Prof Ngoerah (Sanglah) Hospital, said.

Associate Professor John Svigos, with staff at Sanglah Hospital in Bali during a 2014 visit.

A new dedicated building and women’s health service designed with assistance from the WCH was opened by the former President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo last November.

From May 15-17 a 25 member multidisciplinary group from the WCH including Dr Svigos will attend the 12th Bali International Combined Clinical Meeting to be held in the new building.

The legacy of that 1998 stroll extends to Prof Svigos’ daughter Anna Dimond.

Anna and her sister Eran became dedicated volunteers at the Anak Anak Bali Kids institute for children in crisis, set up by fellow Adelaidian Brenton Whittaker.

Sadly, Eran died from a brain haemorrhage in 2007 aged 34, and the Eran Svigos Medical Clinic was opened in her honour, treating hundreds of children a week and offering accommodation.