Teduray woman blames nurse for baby’s death

Cotabato Regional and Medical Center / Photo from Cotabato Regional and Medical Center’s Facebook Page

COTABATO — A mother from the Teduray indigenous group blamed a nurse for her newborn baby’s death, saying that she felt discriminated after the nurse allegedly ignored her.

Marnilyn Galapin, 27, said that she repeatedly called the attention of the nurse from the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center but the nurse allegedly ignored her and even reprimanded her.

“Masakit na po ‘yung tiyan ko. Tumawag ako ng nurse, sabi ko ‘Miss’, tatlong beses ako tumawag.

(I was experiencing stomach pains. I called for a nurse. I called her ‘Miss’ three times.),” Marnilyn narrated in a report for ABS-CBN news.

However, according to Marnilyn, the nurse reprimanded her for addressing her that way.

“Sabi ko hindi ko na kaya, tapos sinagot ako nung nurse na yun na wala daw po ako sa palengke. Ba’t ganun daw ako tumawag sa kanya, ang bastos ko daw. (I told her I can’t handle the pain anymore but the nurse told me I’m not in a marketplace and asked me why I addressed her that way.

She told me I was being rude.),” Marnilyn said.

Galapin also said that they only gave her attention when the baby already fell from her hospital bed. After noticing some bruises on the baby’s chest, the baby died.

However, hospital chief Dr. Helen Yambo said that the baby died of premature birth and not because of the fall.

Galapin said that though she is not planning to file charges against the hospital, she wants the nurses involved to be removed from service.

Meanwhile, hospital authorities are now investigating the incident.

With reports from ABS-CBN News