Hospital says baby ‘dead’ when mother was admitted

The administration of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) said the baby of pregnant Antonieta Torreon was already dead when she reached the hospital’s admission section last Sunday dawn.

“This was a case of a previable boy (a baby born premature and cannot survive),” the hospital’s fact-finding team said in a statement.

The baby was in “footling breech presentation” meaning his feet came out first instead of his head.

“The baby was already IUFD (intrauterine fetal death) upon arrival at the admitting section.”

Antonieta Torreon and her husband Renjie , however, believe something went wrong in the delivery because the infant’s neck was wounded and his head was almost detached.

They also complained that it took the government hospital 13 hours to tell them where the baby’s remains were taken.

Renjie told reporters and an investigator of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that his wife had an ultrasound test last Saturday in another facility and that the fetus was fine with a good heartbeat.

An autopsy of the baby was conduced on Monday at the Cebu Rolling Hills Memorial Chapel.

Records

Chief Inspector Banjamin Lara, medico-legal officer of the regional crime laboratory, said the spinal cord and blood vessels of the baby were already detached (“putol na”) but said it was difficult to identify the cause of death.

“The hospital records can enlighten the family to understand the cause of death of the newborn baby,” he told reporters.

In its statement, the VSMMC said the baby was almost on his way out of the mother’s womb.

“On examination by the resident physician on duty, half of the baby’s body (from the navel to the feet) was already out of the introitus. Partial breech extraction was done by the resident physician,” the hospital said.

The hoy also denied Renjie Torreon’s accusation that his baby’s head was cut off.

Lacerations

Lara said there was still some skin at the baby’s nape attaching the head to the body. He said the internal part of the baby’s neck including the child’s spinal cord was cut off.

But Lara clarified that he didn’t see any proof of intentional laceration at the child’s neck. Nor could he tell if the lacerations were made during the delivery.

Based on the death certificate provided by VSMMC to the Torreon couple, the baby’s condition and cause of death was IUFD secondary to cord accident.

Dangerous

The child was 26 and 1/7 weeks or six months, two weeks, and one day.

The attending physician was Dr. Charlene Asuncion Laplana, but it was Dr. Cindivy Ropeta, obstetrician and gynecologist who signed the certification of fetal death.

“If it is IUFD then the baby didn’t die because his neck was cut off. The baby also had to be delivered if he really died inside the womb because this condition is dangerous for the mother,” Lara said.

When asked how the baby’s neck was almost detached, Lara said a possible cause is extraction during the delivery.

“The baby’s neck won’t snap inside the uterus even if it was wrapped by the umbilical cord. It won’t severe the head,” he said.

Official complaint

The hospital’s information officer Nonoy Mongaya said their investigation showed that the baby “was so premature that he could not survive in footling breech presentation (delivery).”

“We are still waiting for the official complaint from the party involved. We can’t pursue the investigation also if there is no official complaint,” he said in a phone interview.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said an inquiry was needed and that the city would offer free legal aid if the parents decide to go to court.

“That is unconscionable if true,” he said of allegations that the baby was mishandled.

“I don’t like what happened at Vicente Sotto. That’s not good. That has to be looked into,” he said. Rama said that if a similar incident happened at the Cebu City Medical Center or else “heads will have to roll.” /With a report by Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac

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