4th ‘taped baby’ surfaces, cousin of Noval

‘Taped’ baby Yohannes

A FOURTH “taped baby”, born in the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House, has surfaced.

By coincidence, the infant girl turns out to be a cousin of baby Yohannes, the newborn whose photos showing his mouth partly covered in adhesive tape, went viral after they were posted on Facebook on May 9.

The mother of “baby girl Noval” went to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to execute an affidavit yesterday, said lawyer Dante Jadman of CHR .

Jadman said he was shown a photo of the infant with wounds on her cheeks and mouth.
The mother believes the friction burns were from adhesive tape that was pulled off.
“Baby girl Noval had phototherapy when the incident happened. The plaster used for this (to cover her eyes) should only be aligned with the head but tape marks were also seen on her cheeks,” he said.

The mothers of both babies met by chance in the private hospital.

To recall, Janice Badocdoc, who gave birth to baby Yohannes, testified in an inter-agency inquiry that she took photos of another baby in the nursery. She was admonished for this because of a hospital policy of “no picture taking” in the nursery.

Badocdoc explained that she was just curious and wanted to have a souvenir photo to show her partner Ryan Noval because the name on the crib showed his surname “Noval”.

She later posted queries in the Facebook group of the Noval’s clan asking if other relatives experienced taking photos in the nursery. That’s where she found the mother of baby girl Noval – online.

In hindsight, Badocdoc said she recalled seeing a young woman in the hospital corridor, whose eyes were swollen as if she had been crying.

“She explained to me later the reason she was teary-eyed the first time we met was because she found out that her baby’s cheeks had wounds and tape marks,” Badocdoc told Cebu Daily News.

“The mother then decided to discharge her baby last May 5 because of what happened. Although it was not yet timel to discharge from the hospital she signed a waiver that her decision was final to discharge her baby.”

The girl’s mother was supposed to attend the May 27 inter-agency hearing to tell her story but couldn’t leave the house for lack of a babysitter. Her husband is a seaman.

Also yesterday, 54-year-old farmer, Lucresio Son of barangay Tabunan, Cebu City executed an affidavit with the CHR 7, attesting that his granddaughter was born in the maternity hospital and also had her mouth taped last Aug. 11, 2012.

Son told CDN he entered the ward and saw the plaster on the baby’s mouth. There was no pacifier because it was taken away by a nurse. He said a nurse told him this was done to to make the baby stop crying.

“Two other tapes were removed. That’s why when we discharged the baby, there was still one strip left in her mouth,” said Son, who removed it while they were riding a taxi.

He said he thought the practice was “normal” until he heard the news about the hospital denying that they allowed newborns to be taped in the face.

“Although they (Jasmine and Ryan) are not my relatives I executed an affidavit just to stop the hospital’s practice,” Son added.

Her daughter Lushella is in Dumaguete City. His grand daughter Megan Khelly, who is half American , will turn two years old this August 8.