Nurse admits taping pacifier on baby's mouth

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas has created a fact-finding team to probe an incident in a Cebu City hospital where a "noisy" newborn baby was gagged by an attending nurse. The DOH said on Wednesday that they have already sent a letter to the Cebu Puericulture Centre and Maternity House requesting for details of the incident and a copy of the hospital's policies. The hospital, which is currently conducting its own internal investigation, has yet to respond to the letter, according to the DOH. The management of the hospital said they have already spoken to the parents of the 1-week-old baby, who was released from the hospital on Tuesday. There were 3 nurses attending to 30 babies when the incident happened. There were no CCTVs in the nursery room. A nurse on duty admitted to the parents that they used a pacifier to stop the baby from crying and they used a medical adhesive tape to secure the pacifier from falling. The DOH, however, clarified that they are not recommending the use of pacifiers on newborn babies to avoid introducing artificial objects in lieu of breastfeeding. The parents said they refused the hospital's offer for a discount when their baby was discharged. The couple said they are just thankful their baby is safe. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has also launched an investigation into the incident, The father of the baby said they will be filing charges against the culprit as soon as the results of the hospital's investigation are out. The mouth-taping incident involving a baby drew outrage online after photographs of a newborn baby gagged with adhesive tape went viral on social media sites. Pictures of the baby boy, his eyes shut and his mouth covered with clear tape as he lay on a sheet, sparked a furor as they spread on Facebook and Twitter.—report from Joworski Alipon, ABS-CBN Central Visayas