DOH probes newborn’s death due to nurse’s ‘negligence’

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is investigating reports that a newborn died at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City due to the negligence of a nurse who allegedly ignored the mother’s call for help.

“We are currently validating the report, whether there was really negligence on the part of the hospital. The nurse on duty, I think, was being blamed by the mother,” DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said.

ABS-CBN reported that Marnilyn Galapin, 27, of Upi, Maguindanao, complained that her child died when a nurse did not respond to her call for help when she was laboring last May 20.

Galapin reportedly told the nurse that she was about to give birth but the nurse instead allegedly reprimanded her. She delivered the baby on her own but the baby slipped from the bed and dropped on the floor and died.  

The hospital reportedly denied this, claiming that the baby was born prematurely.

Galapin reportedly complained that the nurse ignored her because she belongs to an indigenous group Teduray. 

According to Lee Suy, the DOH has directed its regional office in Cotabato to investigate the complaint. The hospital is one of the 74 medical institutions under the DOH. 

“They will be there to check what actually happened… If someone is at fault, there are corresponding consequences for that,” he said.

Lee Suy said it is “subjective” to assume at this point that the mother was ignored because of her ethnicity. 

“In providing service to the community… whether you are part of the indigenous group, whether you are rich or poor, that should not be a hindrance or should not be a reason for someone not to receive the same services that one can actually offer to others,” he said.