Hospital says pacifier only used in ‘special cases’
Yes, the hospital taped a pacifier on “Baby Blaire’s” mouth, said the director of the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House.
The purpose was to “calm” the newborn infant who was breathing too fast and kept crying, which could have worsened her condition, said Dr. Raida Varona.
In a reply to the letter query of acting Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella, Varona said their policy in the Special Intensive Case Unit (SICU), “states that pacifiers are not allowed”, but there are “special cases” where the baby’s pediatrician has the discretion to allow it.
The hospital chief explained the handling of the infant girl, who was the second case of a “taped” baby to surface through Facebook photos after angry parents Ryan Noval and Jasmine Badocdoc went public on May 9 in Facebook to complain about adhesive tape covering the upper lip of their newborn son, Yohannes.
The hospital chief no longer discussed the case of baby Yohannes, since his parents announced last Tuesday that they were going to sue the hospital.
Above normal
“It’s not a practice of our nurses to put plaster on the baby’s mouth but only to use it to anchor the pacifier to the upper lip or to the side of the mouth as shown in the picture,” Varona said in a one-page letter dated May 28.
Varona said based on the baby’s pediatrician and hospital’s record, baby Blaire was born full term, and was observed to have “tachypnea” or an above normal respiratory rate, and chest retractions.
Oxygen was administered through a tube was given to help ease the baby’s breathing which was 70-80 breaths per minute.
The baby was not allowed to feed because of the risk of aspiration or choking, said Varona.
“Because of this, she became agitated and kept on crying, which could worsen the condition of the baby. So a pacifier was given to calm the baby whose breathing was very fast.”
Confusion
Acting Mayor Labella wrote Varona last May 27 asking if it was a hospital practice to tape the faces of babies to hold a pacifier.
Confused by earlier denials issued by the hospital management in media reports, he said this was “a simple issue that needed only one honest answer”.
Yesterday, Labella said that instead of being enlightened, the hospital chief’s letter reply added to his confusion about hospital policy and practices.
“It (the letter reply) even propounded more questions than answers,” Labella told reporters.
“Assuming that it (the use of pacifier and tape) is inevitable, was the baby being watched or monitored?”
Resolution
Labella said he looks forward to the outcome of the ongoing investigations on the hospital.
A joint fact-finding committee composed of seven government agencies led by the Commision on Human Rights (CHR) 7 ended its hearings last May 27 and will come up with a resolution in 15 days.
Labella said the city government can offer assistance to the baby’s 22-year-old mother Lyka, if she, too, decides to take legal action.
The hospital’s SICU policy includes its breastfeeding policy.
The Department of Health, which mandates breastfeeding in facilities that provide maternity services, does not allow artificial teats or pacifiers on breastfeeding infants, a policy set down by the World Health Organization.
Policy
The hospital’s lawyer, Cornelio Mercado, yesterday said he’s not worried about other parents who executed affidavits attesting that their babies’ mouths were taped to hold pacifiers as well.
“No, It’s better that they gather what they can,”Mercado said in a phone interview. He said there was no chance of hospital policy as a result of the cases.
Last Friday, Lucresio Son whose grandaughter was born in the maternity hospital and the mother of baby girl Noval showed up at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR-7) office.
They were able to meet the parents whose Facebook posts of their newborn son started this month’s furor over hospital practices — Noval and Badocdoc.
Social worker Jenneth Aquino of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) said she also wants nurses Arianne Mae Pacula and Kamille Neri to undergo stress debriefing.
Rashes
She said Pacula appeared stressed after the inter-agency panel hearings.
She said she also called up and offered counseling to the mother of baby girl Noval last Friday afternoon.
“Baby girl Noval is okay. She’s big now, but she still has rashes caused by the tape,” Aquino said.
Baby girl Noval was discharged from the hospital last May 5 after her mother found out about her condition during a phototherapy session.
Aquino said she’s also offering counseling to the parents of baby Blaire./ With Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag
Related Stories:
Cebu City Council condemns photo of baby with taped mouth
US Embassy asking about taped baby’s case
Cebu Maternity Hospital: We regret ‘taping’ of baby
DSWD: Baby Blaire’s parents may need counselling
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