A refugee mother and her baby have been medically evacuated from Nauru to Australia after an emergency caesarean.
The 22-year-old Somali woman named Naima and her newborn, who was one month premature, have been sent to Brisbane on separate planes and are believed to be in a critical condition, refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said.
"The minister needs to come clean on the real standards of the Nauru hospital," Mr Rintoul said in a statement.
A spokesman for the immigration department confirmed the pair's transfer from Nauru.
"Both mother and child are receiving appropriate medical treatment," he said.
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"The department does not comment on individuals' medical situations."
Doctors for Refugees' Barri Phatarfod cast doubt over whether maternal health facilities on Nauru were up to scratch for difficult cases.
"Ever since the government stopped routinely bringing pregnant women from Nauru to Australia to have their delivery, something like this was bound to happen," she told the ABC.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young raised concerns about health facilities on the island.
"Once again we have bureaucrats ignoring doctors' advice and not acting in the best interests of the people in their care," she said.
