Suan calls for probe on death of newborn baby in health center

Says needed ordinances, systems, budget must be

provided to ensure it will not happen again

THE City Council needs to conduct its own investigation over the incident that took place in a barangay health center where a young mother lost her firstborn during childbirth.

This was pointed out by Councilor Lordan G. Suan in his special report on Monday’s regular session presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy.

The councilor said the incident was allegedly caused by lack of urgency, diligence and training of some specific barangay health workers as well as the absence of the assigned midwife.

According to Suan, the purpose of the investigation is not to put the blame on anyone but to answer some questions as to what really transpired that day.

“What I’m asking for is we investigate what really happened, answer the questions that need answers and in what way did we contribute to what happened? Was there something we could have done to prevent this? Because this is a wake-up call di man sad pwede nga ipalabay lang nato ni as if nothing happened. We need to learn a lesson here. Kung naay nasayop angayan nato badlongon, kung naay pagkakulang atong tarungon. Kanunay naay accountability naay tulubagon pero dili nato damayon ang halos tanan barangay health workers na mao atong frontliners nga hago kaayo ug nagtarong pagtrabaho,” Suan explained.

He said there is a need to know whether there were any lapses, and whose responsibility was it to supervise the delivery of the child.

“Were these health workers properly trained and did the city provide the proper infrastructure and support for them to be effective in their functions, or will there be a need to change or improve anything in the system,” the councilor added.

Furthermore, Suan stressed the need to determine the underlying problem beyond the tragedy.

“On one hand, naay trahedya nahitabo, naay pamilya namatyan sa ilang first born child. On the other hand, I discovered that our midwives are understaffed and overworked. As the local legislative body, we can institute the needed ordinances, systems, and budget to make sure that this tragedy does not happen again, that we’re providing adequate attention and support to our barangay health workers but first we need to find out what happened last week,” manifested the councilor.

The matter was referred to the committees on health and health insurance and on women and family relations respectively chaired by Councilors Maria Lourdes S. Gaane and Edna M. Dahino for appropriate action.