Umbilical cord tangled in wheel Baby born on trisikad, dies in fall

CEBU, Philippines - Benjamin Javierto, 44, took his 43-year-old wife Regina who was seven months pregnant to the Badian Birthing Center because she was feeling intense pain in her belly. The midwife referred them to the Badian District Hospital which has the equipment to accommodate premature births.

The baby, a girl, came out as the couple was still on a pedal-pushed tricycle (trisikad) on their way to the hospital. She fell on the road, and was dragged some two meters as her umbilical cord got entangled with the trisikad’s wheel.

Neither the couple nor the trisikad driver immediately noticed the baby when she came out and fell, according the police report.

The couple reported the incident, which happened last Saturday morning, to the police only last Tuesday after they buried the baby who they named Maria.

According to PO3 Josefina Beriarmente of Badian’s Women’s and Children’s Protection Desk, when mid wife Maria Beatriz Vasquez checked the health card of Regina, she made a referral to the district hospital because the birthing center has no incubator for premature babies.

Luzviminda Bruce, secretary of Dra. Ordoja Espiritu, assisted and called the tricycle driven by Santiago del Rosario.

“Kaanakon na kuno ang inahan unya nag-ung-ong na ang ulo sa bata… Wala na gani mag-underwear,” Beriarmente said. (The baby was about to come out.)

The couple and the driver did not notice the baby came out and fell on the road while the trisikad was running.

“Nauntol pa man gud sa sikad unya nilusot dayon natagak sa karsada,” Beriarmente said.

Del Rosario, the driver, tried hard to reach the hospital faster upon seeing the baby in bluish color.

“Naningkamot gyud ko nga makaabot ko kay lagom na man ang bata pagkatagak,” del Rosario said in an interview over GMA-7 Balitang Bisdak.

The baby’s father took the baby and ran to the district hospital but the baby did not make it there alive.

The chief of the Badian District Hospital, Dr. Imelda Peque, told The FREEMAN that the baby was declared dead on arrival. She was not around during the incident but she received reports that the baby did not have a heartbeat during Regina’s last pre-natal check up on July 18.

“Maoy akong nahibaw-an pero tungod lagi nga walay kwarta wala maadto sa siyudad unya mao na lay akong nahibaw-an nga natagak sa sikad,” Peque said in a phone interview. (I heard they did not have money to seek medical care in the city, and now this.)

The baby was the couple’s ninth child.

The legal counsel of the Badian Police Station, Atty. Irene Caballes, said the children’s desk told her nobody should be blamed for the incident although there was a minor lapse on the part of the husband.

“Wala kunoy tulubagon ang midwife kay mao may patakaran kay walay saktong kahimanan so i-refer gyud na sa district hospital but wala lang nakaabot didto,” Beriarmente said. (It was not the midwife’s fault because it was really their policy to refer to the district hospital.)

She added that Benjamin should have taken Regina a few hours before she felt the intense pain in her belly.

“Magsakit na kuno na mga pila ka oras pa lang pero wala gidala dayon diha na gyud at that point gidala nga apiki na,” the policewoman said. (She was not immediately taken to the center.)

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III has called on the local government unit of Badian to investigate, saying birthing centers are under the supervision of the LGU.

“They should initiate investigation,” Davide said.

The governor was saddened by the incident though admitted that government facilities like hospitals lack spaces.

“Let us see how we can give assistance to the mother,” Davide added. — /JPM (FREEMAN)