Woman dies after delivering stillborn baby on Cebu City sidewalk

A woman who just gave birth to a stillborn baby died on a sidewalk along one of Cebu City’s major thoroughfares.

According to a State of the Nation report by Nico Sereno on Wednesday, victim Mary Ann Tapos delivered her baby on a sidewalk along General Maxilom Avenue with the help of a passing nurse after she refused to be confined to a hospital.

“Nakita namin na lumabas na ang ulo ng bata, tila nangingitim na dahil hindi pa tuluyang makalabas. Ayun, may nurse na dumating tinulungan siya mailuwal ang sanggol, pero patay na ng mailabas ang sanggol tapos yung umbilical cord, hindi din lumabas,” said traffic enforcer Sheila Marie Nicolasora.

(We saw the child’s head emerge; it looked like it was turning black because it couldn’t get out. A nurse arrived to help her deliver the baby, but it was already dead when it came out and the umbilical cord didn’t come out either)

First responders attempted to bring Mary Ann to a hospital for treatment via an ambulance but she demanded to be released and signed a waiver against medical assistance.

“Sabi niya ‘kaya ko naman huminga, nakakahinga na ako’. Sinabihan niya pa yung doctor ‘pineperahan niyo lang ako, pagpapractisan kaya ibaba na ninyo ako,’” said her friend Marie Seno.

(She said ‘I can still breathe, I can breathe now.’ She even told the doctor ‘you’re just milking me for money and practice on me so put me down,’)

“Takot siya sa injection. Eh nag matigas siya. Siya dapat ang masunod,” added her live-in partner Sherwin Sumagang.

(She’s scared of injections. She was stubborn. She insisted on what she wanted.) —Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News