ANOTHER unborn child died in a hospital that a provincial board member wanted to be looked into.
Provincial Board Member Greg Jala of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) urged his colleagues to conduct an investigation into the death of the child who died while still inside the womb of the mother who was not named.
“I ask the leadership of this August Body and the concerned government agencies, especially the Department of Health and the local health board, to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident,” he said in his recent privilege speech.
Jala told his colleagues that he received a letter of a concerned first cousin of the letter-writer whose relative was about to deliver their child at the Candijay hospital sometime in August.
He said that the mother didn’t know how to “otong” or push properly after being admitted in the morning of August 14. And the family was very worried for complications as time passed by and the family requested the hospital authorities for a transfer to Ubay hospital, but was unheeded.
“But their request was denied with reassurances that everything was “normal”—the mother was fine, and the baby’s heartbeat was stable.”
Despite repeated plea for a transfer at past 10 p.m. and at past 2a.m. the situation worsened as the mother was already aided by an oxygen “clearly showing signs of distress—but was still being told to push.”
The family was told that hospital follows what it called protocols when it comes to referral or transfer that needs 24 hours of observation.
“But what kind of protocol allows a struggling, laboring mother to suffer for that long without escalation? What kind of policy denies transfer when both the child’s and the mother’s lives are evidently at risk?” Jala said.
Finally, the hospital decided to make the referral at 5a.m. the following day when the “mother had nearly lost consciousness.”
But it was too late that upon arrival in Ubay hospital the baby had died. And the mother had to undergo emergency cesarean section and remains weak.”
This is being referred to the SP health committee for immediate action.
The investigation is to determine whether the appropriate protocols were followed, of the medical staff acted within the bounds of competence and compassion that this tragedy could have been prevented. Jala said that the probe is not who’s to blame of the tragic incident but to protect lives.
“It is about learning, correcting, and preventing future loss. It is about ensuring that when our constituents walk into any healthcare facility, they are treated with urgency, dignity, and the best possible care—not subjected to delay, misjudgment, and irreversible consequences.” (rvo)
