Jocelyn Perlas of Cadiz City , mother of 7-month-old, Novy Anne Perlas, who died at the Corazon Locsin Motelibano Memorial Regional Hospital on Sept. 21, yesterday said she is determined to pursue her complaint against the hospital.

The mother said it was negligence of the hospital staff and the defective equipment at CLMMRH that led to the death of her baby the day after she was operated on by doctors. The baby was diagnosed to have a diaphragmatic hernia.

Had the nurses replenished the oxygen supply on time, or if only the doctors had brought Novy Anne to the Intensive Care Unit after the operation, which is the operating procedure, the baby would still be alive, Jocelyn said.

Despite paying a deposit of P2,000, she said the nurses ignored her and even berated her when she asked for their help after the oxygen supply attached to her baby was used up.

Jocelyn said she filed a complaint against CLMMRH at the office of the National Bureau of Investigation Monday to prevent the incident from happening to other patients.

In response, hospital chief Dr. Epifania Simbul said baby Novy Anne had been given “very poor prognosis” by the doctors who attended to her.

She said the baby was brought to CLMMRH on Sept. 17 from Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City where they were referred after the baby was confined for almost two weeks at St. Anne's Hospital in Cadiz City , Simbul said.

Simbul explained the prognosis meant that the chance of the baby to survive before and after the operation was very slim.

The prognosis was explained by the attending doctor to the baby's parents and they were also told of the condition of the baby after she was brought to the CLMMRH, Simbul said.

She also said the doctors and nurses who looked after Novy Anne put on record that her lungs were very weak and while it was SOP to bring patients from the operating room to the ICU, the hospital chief said the ICU was full at that time, prompting the staff to bring her back to the ward.

However, Jocelyn said the doctor, whose name she could not remember, did not inform them of the actual condition of Novy Anne and and when she asked him if the baby's body can endure the operation, the doctor told her it all depends on the baby's strength.

The baby survived the operation but apparently, it was the staff's negligence that caused her death, the mother insisted.

While she can accept her baby's death, she said she holds the CLMMRH staff's responsible for what happened.*NAB

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