A domestic argument between a Swatar couple got out of hand and 29-year-old Nathalie Micallef allegedly stabbed her partner while her three children were in the house.

The man, Brian Pace, was hospitalised and is in intensive care. He was stabbed in the stomach on Tuesday night at about 11 p.m.

Standing silently in the dock except for occasionally sniffling to hold back the tears, she pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Pace. Police Inspector Chris Pullicino told the court Ms Micallef admitted to stabbing Mr Pace after she accompanied him to hospital.

The officer said he went to the hospital after receiving a phone call from Mater Dei Hospital informing him that an unconscious person had arrived with suspected stab wounds. When he arrived, Mr Pace was already in the operating theatre.

During submissions on bail, defence lawyer Ludwig Caruana told the court the accused had three children and not granting bail would cause undue suffering. Inspector Pullicino said the children, the youngest aged three, were being cared for by neighbours who lived in the same block of flats as the couple.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano ordered that the children were given their clothes and other belongings from the flat and protected from unnecessary suffering because of the case. "We adults commit fouls and the children have to pay," he remarked before remanding her in custody.

The case continues.