DOH warns CPCMHI vs. pacifiers use
The Department of Health (DOH) central office has warned the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House Inc. (CPCMHI) to discontinue the use of pacifiers to quiet newborn babies. DOH-7 added they will closely monitor whether this is followed.
Otherwise, the renewal of the hospital’s license due in October would be affected.
“The worst case scenario is that if they would not change the practice this will be related to the issuance of their renewal of license (operate),” said DOH Undersecretary for Women, Children and Family Health Cluster Dr. Janette L. Garin who visited Cebu yesterday.
“Using pacifiers to stop the baby from crying is not good and unethical. The practice is not allowed,” said Garin because the baby may no longer turn to the mother for breast-feeding.
The national policy to adopt breast-feeding for mothers who just gave birth is part of Republic Act 7600 otherwise known as The Rooming-In and Breast-feeding Act of 1992.
The non-use of pacifiers or “soothers” is part of a checklist given to all hospitals especially birthing centers, said Garin.
The DOH Central Office is monitoring the non-profit maternity hospital after the furor raised in May over the case of baby Yohannes, whose mouth was taped with adhesive five days after he was born.
The tape was supposed to hold a pacifier in place but none of the nurses would admit using one or placing the plaster.
The parents posted photos of their taped son on Facebook, triggering a barrage of online criticism and a formal investigation.
The hospital management insisted it follows breast-feeding guidelines and uses a pacifier only on premature or sick infants or as prescribed by the doctor.
For now the DOH can’t give sanctions, said Garin, because they have no evidence that a pacifier was actually used.
“What we saw was only a picture. We will have to see since we are also asking for evidence from other complainants,” she added.
One photo of baby Yohannes showed a blue pacifier in the crib near his head. Nurse Arianne Mae Pacula confirmed its presence in hearings of a fact-finding committee but the pacifier and plaster disappeared and were never produced by the hospital.
Garin said the Cebu maternity hospital, a 91-year-old institution in Cebu, is the first health facility being monitored for pacifier use but several others are also being observed.
A government inter-agency fact-finding committee in Cebu wrapped up its investigation of the baby-taping incident and released its findings last June 30.
It said baby Yohannes’ mouth was taped to quiet the crying infant and that a pacifier was in the crib.
The panel, which called the action unfair “punishment” of the newborn and a form of “corporal punishment” recommended the filing of a civil, criminal and/or administrative case.
It noted other lapses, like the ratio of two nurses for 28 babies instead of one nurse for every six babies.
SHAPE UP
A supplementary report issued by the panel this week said the maternity hospital has to shape up if it wants to improve standards of health care for mothers and children.
DOH is a member of the panel.
“These are our recommendations which contain best practices and standards that should have been complied with by the hospital,” said Alan Felix Macaraya, legal counsel of the National Telecommunications 7.
For one, the hospital needs a “child protection policy” to ensure that babies are always kept physically and psychosocially safe.
Other recommendations:
* Hospital staff need to undergo a 20-hour training on lactation management and a seminar on child development to understand children’s behavior and how to handle it.
* Someone should be placed in the nursery to supervise and monitor the staff, ideally a neonatologist, pediatrician, or nurse trained in nursery care.
* The staff needs to be more aware of the hospital’s core values, beliefs and policies, and take them seriously.
The panel members represent the Commission on Human Rights (CHR-7), National Telecommunications (NTC-7), Department of Health (DOH-7), Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) in Cebu City, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Children and Women Protection of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
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