DSWD to take custody of baby abused by own mother

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will take custody of the infant who was shown in an online video being beaten by his own mother at a hospital on Thursday.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said a social worker was sent to assess the mother seen slapping her newborn in a video that went viral on social media.

The video posted by a certain Nilo Sabangan, which had more than 900,000 views as of Friday night, showed a woman slapping a crying baby lying beside her in a hospital bed.

Soliman said the mother may be suffering from postpartum depression in addition to a previous psychological condition.

She said the hospital would be made accountable for the incident.

Soliman said the infant was transferred to the hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit while the mother is in a separate ward. 

She said other mothers have volunteered to breastfeed the baby.

The doctors said that if the baby’s blood test turns out all right, he can be discharged in two to three days.

The mother will remain in the hospital since she still has to undergo blood transfusions and a psychiatric checkup, the DSWD said.

Soliman said the newborn would be under the care of the DSWD National Capital Region while the psychosocial capability of the mother is being evaluated.