Archive for October, 2008

Patient Discrimination

Part 2 of Giving Birth On Lying-In Centers

I told my sister, my niece to accompany the house guest and I will follow them to Pasay General Hospital. When I got there, the patient (house guest) is already inside OB Emergency Room (2nd floor), no companions are allowed inside. There’s a small window so that attending nurse can call on patient’s companion in case they need to tell something.

The nurse was monitoring the patient’s blood pressure, they’ve will asked us to buy gloves, syringe and medicine. During the “interview” (on the small window), the nurse asked us why we bring the patient there. I told her what is true, the lying in center brought us and recommended their hospital… and explained the patient’s condition (hypotension). She said, we’re not Pasay residents and the patient didn’t deliver the baby to their hospital. She also said that the midwife should have stayed to monitor the patient’s condition and they not supposed to transfer the patient with unstable blood pressure. Am I supposed to know what the medical team’s SOP? I thought, this is an emergency situation.

The doctor came after 10 minutes, she said “the patient’s blood pressure is stable at 90/70″ and we could transfer the patient to PGH (Philippine General Hospital) or Paranaque Community Hospital. Why? Because we’re NOT Pasay residents. I asked her if we could transfer the patient to Ospital ng Maynila, she said “bahala ho kayo basta community hospital or PGH” and she handed me the patient’s records. She’s a doctor by profession.

At that point, I felt bad. Pasay General Hospital gave me the impression that the hospital is for Pasay residents only. So if we have emergency situation within Pasay, we cannot count on them, better go to PGH or OM or anywhere but not Pasay General Hospital not unless you live in Pasay.

During that time, I was thinking that if something bad happened to our patient, Pasay General Hospital will also be liable. We stayed there for almost an hour, rode a cab and transferred to Ospital ng Maynila.

What am I supposed to feel? Nagaksaya lang kami ng oras para ipagtabuyan lang. (We wasted our time and they drive us away) Correct me if I’m wrong to my translation.

pregnancy

Giving Birth At Lying-in Centers

This was the first time that I haven’t updated my blog for almost a week because I have had a flu. Two nights ago, I feel better and ready to blog but something came up at home. I didn’t sleep the whole night and tired. Reason? We have to accompany our pregnant house guest to a nearby lying-in center because her water bag broke. Her baby is supposedly due on Sept 29 (tomorrow) it was 3 days earlier. For those who didn’t know, lying in centers are for normal deliveries, most often, midwife help mothers to gave birth. Midwife studied and pass the board passers to earn their license and practice their profession.

A baby girl was born at 1:30 am, October 26, 2008. My sister caught the baby when they arrived at the lying in center (lobby). OMG! I didn’t know that my sister can do that, she pulled down the underwear because she already saw the head of the baby. The mother was still standing when the baby came, my sister caught the baby.

The mother’s blood pressure was not stable, it dropped to 60/40. The midwives told us that we need to rushed the mother to Pasay General Hospital because they don’t have “facilities” for her present condition. My niece told me that a midwife told them something like this, “mawawalan ho kami ng lisensiya, wala kami gamit dito“. I told them that we could bring the patient to Ospital Ng Maynila since the travel time from our place to Pasay General Hospital and Ospital Ng Maynila is almost the same but they insisted to bring the patient to Pasay because “time is running out”. For the record, the only thing they did was to check on the patient’s blood pressure.

Around 3:00 am, the ambulance brought the patient, my sister and niece to Pasay General Hospital accompanied by 2 lying-in midwives. Blood pressure during the travel according to my niece as she heard was 40/10. The midwives didn’t even bother to accompany them to OB Emergency Room and told my sister “makiusap na lang kayo” and they left.

pregnancy

Influenza Got Me

No matter I often says “bawal magkasakit“, flu got me. It started waking up sneezing, sore throat and a terrible headache. At first, I thought it was a simple migraine attack. I have ideas to post few days ago but I can’t think straight and finish a post. Even moderating and replying to comments is too tiring for me. Stress? Maybe. Which reminds me, I had my flue vaccine two years ago, I forgot to have my vaccine shot this year.

I still don’t have nanny now and not planning to have one, that’s another story. When I feel good nursing this terrible flu and when my kids went out for school, that’s the time I can drop entrecard and check on my mails and rest. But I managed to change my template here and tweak a little. I guess, its easier because I don’t have to stress myself on thinking a better post.

Future post? No, I don’t have any. I prefer impromptu, my writing depends on my mood, environment and current issues. No matter how I tried writing, my mind is clouded. I hope everything will be fine in the coming days.

Pinoy

BBC Apologized For Filipino Domestic Helper Episode

I’m more than excited when I heard that British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) already issued an apology in behalf of comedy show “Harry And Paul”. Pinoys were offended with the September 26 episode titled “Mating A Northerner“.

The online Dignity and Respect For Filipino Workers Petition was launched to demand for apology. The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) expressed their disgust on the said episode. The Philippine Embassy in London had already written to the United Kingdom’s media regulatory agency as well as to the mayor of London, the secretary of state for women, and the television network to complain about the said show. And most of Filipino bloggers post their sentiments regarding the anti-pinay comedy skit. Although we have different points of view and some are fans of the comedy show, at least our voice were heard about the Filipina Domestic Helper insult.

“This appalling portrayal of Filipino women in television is deplorable and an insult to millions of women migrants around the world who are making valuable contributions to the progress of the countries they work for,” the NCRFW said.

Let me share this:
Firstly, we’re sorry if you were in any way offended by the program as this wasn’t our intention. It in no way represents real people and was never intended to offend or demean any viewer.
The letter explained that the offending sketch is from a series known as “Northern Monkey” which is “featured strongly in both series of the program over the last two years.”

My reaction: Where’s public apology? At least, they’re sorry for the incident.

source: ABS-CBN

Poverty Drives Pinoy To Become OFW

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are Philippines’ unsung heroes, no doubt about that. They earn a living, send money to their families, in short they contributed to our economy. Some of them are financially stable but working away from home is indeed a sacrifice for the sake of their loved ones.

How come there are more OFW now compared before? During my high school years, there was 2-3 of my classmates had a father that was a seaman or working in Saudia Arabia. I guess, we don’t use the term OFW back then. When did OFW statistics started increasing? Is there such thing as OFW history?
Read more…