QC health dep’t: Pregnant women need swab test before getting admitted to hospital

The Quezon City Health Department insisted that pregnant women undergo an RT-PCR test before being admitted to a hospital in the city.

This follows the viral video of a woman giving birth in the vehicle of the Quezon City Task Force Disiplina after being refused admission by a hospital.

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According to Lilia Borlagdan, chief of the City Health Department Midwifery Section, the pregnant woman needs to be tested for COVID-19 to prevent it from infecting health workers and other hospital patients if they test positive.

In the event of a sudden birth, there should be a separate or isolated tent outside for patients, Borlagdan said.

Borlagdan advised pregnant women about giving birth to take a swab test because it is free and only needs to be scheduled at a community-based testing center in the city.

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Quezon City Task Force Disiplina Ronessa Serna was one of those who helped give birth to a pregnant woman, who got in their car to take her to a lying-in clinic.

QC health dep’t: Pregnant women need swab test before getting admitted to hospital

Serna admitted that she was scared of what happened, especially since they had no tools for childbirth.

Serna took the mother and daughter to a clinic to have the umbilical cord removed.

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According to Serna, the couple told her that the hospital they went to rejected them because they did not have a COVID-19 swab test.

In a text message, Dr. Sabina Mendoza of Rosario Maclang Hospital – the hospital that refused to admit the pregnant woman- said they simply followed the Philippine Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology rules.

According to barangay health workers in Payatas, Quezon City, there are already 8 cases in their area of ​​pregnant women that hospitals have rejected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The other allegedly pregnant women were allowed to be admitted on the condition that they included COVID-19 patients.

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