CABANATUAN CITY – While debates on the government’s policy on reproductive health is high and health insurance drive is at its peak, the birth of a boy in Aurora could illustrate the dismal state of health services for the people in the countryside.
With only P1,600 in his pocket, 34-year-old Andy Soverano of barangay Lipit, Dipaculao, Aurora, declined the suggestion of a physician at the government hospital here to rush his eight-hour old son to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Sept. 27.
On Thursday, still unable to raise funds, he and his wife Feliza, 31, were forced to bring the child named Baby John to the Metro Manila facility through an ambulance provided by the provincial government of Aurora. This after the child suffered from fever and cried for hours on Sept. 28.
Baby John was delivered at about 1:00 a.m. by a “hilot” in a small hut in the same barangay on Sept. 27, Andy said.
But feared gripped them when they found masses that almost covered the baby’s face. The attending midwife asked them to bring him immediately to the Aurora provincial hospital (APH).
However, they were advised to bring the child to a bigger hospital, thus, prompting them to rush Baby John to the Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center (PJGMRMC) here which in turn also recommended that the child be brought to the PGH.
Up to this time, no one knew of the real disease of Baby John.
“Wala pa naman po kasing ginagawa dahil delikado raw,” Andy said.
Soverano’s sister, Anna who went with the family at the PJGMRMC said that what the physician did at the emergency room was to put bondage on the “soft mass” in the child’s face.
“Baka daw po kasi utak ‘yun, delikado raw kaya dapat dalhin kaagad sa PGH,” Anna said.
She said hospital officials were giving them a referral letter for PGH but they failed to get it due to confusion.
Soverano is a tricycle driver and Baby John is his sixth child, the eldest is 13 years old.
He said this is the first time he’ll be begging for help. “Iligtas po natin ang anak ko.”
With only P1,600 in his pocket, 34-year-old Andy Soverano of barangay Lipit, Dipaculao, Aurora, declined the suggestion of a physician at the government hospital here to rush his eight-hour old son to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Sept. 27.
On Thursday, still unable to raise funds, he and his wife Feliza, 31, were forced to bring the child named Baby John to the Metro Manila facility through an ambulance provided by the provincial government of Aurora. This after the child suffered from fever and cried for hours on Sept. 28.
Baby John was delivered at about 1:00 a.m. by a “hilot” in a small hut in the same barangay on Sept. 27, Andy said.
But feared gripped them when they found masses that almost covered the baby’s face. The attending midwife asked them to bring him immediately to the Aurora provincial hospital (APH).
However, they were advised to bring the child to a bigger hospital, thus, prompting them to rush Baby John to the Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center (PJGMRMC) here which in turn also recommended that the child be brought to the PGH.
Up to this time, no one knew of the real disease of Baby John.
“Wala pa naman po kasing ginagawa dahil delikado raw,” Andy said.
Soverano’s sister, Anna who went with the family at the PJGMRMC said that what the physician did at the emergency room was to put bondage on the “soft mass” in the child’s face.
“Baka daw po kasi utak ‘yun, delikado raw kaya dapat dalhin kaagad sa PGH,” Anna said.
She said hospital officials were giving them a referral letter for PGH but they failed to get it due to confusion.
Soverano is a tricycle driver and Baby John is his sixth child, the eldest is 13 years old.
He said this is the first time he’ll be begging for help. “Iligtas po natin ang anak ko.”
