Baby decapitated during delivery in an Iloilo hospital

POTOTAN, ILOILO ,Philippines  — A baby's head was allegedly severed during delivery at a government hospital in this town last Wednesday, but was reported only to the press last Saturday.

The 29-year-old mother, Mae Hitolle of Brgy. Bugtongan in Dueñas town of Iloilo, claimed that it was the second time that her baby died while she gave birth at the same hospital.

In a radio interview, Hitolle insisted that during delivery she heard her baby's head got severed.

Her physicians told her the baby was already dead while still on her womb, but the mother believed it was not so because she even heard her baby's heartbeat before the alleged decapitation.

Hitolle alleged that someone sit over her stomach and pushed the infant to come out.

Doctor Prim Parcon, chief of hospital of the Iloilo Provincial Hospital (IPH), however justified that decapitation was possible if the baby is already dead before the mother gives birth because the body is softer than normal.

The hospital management also denied that someone sat on Hitolle's stomach to force the baby to come out.

Reports had it that the body of Hitolle's baby was left inside her, prompting doctors to perform a caesarian operation.

Meanwhile, the IPH has yet to identify the members of the medical team who performed Hitolle's delivery.

During her first giving of birth, Hitolle claimed that her baby died after the medical team got delayed in assisting her the reason why the umbilical cord got twisted and wrapped around her baby's neck.

According to the Philippine Medical Association, cases of decapitation only occur when the baby is already dead prior to delivery.