People come to vagrant’s aid as she gives birth on sidewalk

Several people came to the aid of an apparently vagrant woman as she gave birth on the sidewalk in Sta. Mesa, Manila on Saturday, January 12.

According to Lilia Layson, she noticed the woman walking around on the sidewalk near her house, going from one spot to another before she lay down on the pavement at around 8 in the morning.

Apparently, the woman was pregnant and was about to give birth right there and then.

"Wala pong nagpaanak. Kusa pong lumabas," Layson said in Tina Panganiban-Perez's report on "24 Oras."

Sheryl Navarro, who also helped out during the incident, said, "Nakita ko yung karton. Hinila ko. Doon ko pinahiga yung baby...Tapos nilagyan ko siya ng bimpo kasi nanlamig na 'yung baby."

The woman was still wearing a pair of shorts when she gave birth. Layson said the situation was a difficult one as the woman would kick at them when they tried to get near the baby.

"Pag lalapitan mo, maninipa," said Layson. "So kung inisip namin na lapitan siya, eh may baby na nakasabit na sa loob ng short niya, mas delikado."

Residents, police and barangay officials rushed to the scene after the commotion started.

They found a nurse, who helped cut the baby's umbilical cord.

Afterwards, the mother and the infant were rushed to the hospital. The woman has been reunited with her family and the infant is currently with a center.

According to the family, the woman's vagrancy was possibly a result of depression. 

"Dinala ko po kagabi siya sa mental," the woman's father told GMA News.

"Eh binigyan lang kami ng gamot tapos pinauwi rin kami. Sabi obserbahan daw muna...mahilig po siyang mag-ano eh, mag lumabas pag ano, wala sa kanyang nakapansin," the father of the homeless woman said.

Asked about the baby, he said, "Balak pong kunin ng kapatid ko." — Kaela Malig/BM, GMA News