By Mario Casayuran
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III on Thursday reminded the Department of Health (DOH) to come up with protocols on “childbirth in the COVID-19 era” just in case they have not done so yet.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III
(SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / MANILA BULLETIN)
‘’Pregnant women are most vulnerable at this time,’’ he said.
Pimentel had accompanied his pregnant wife, Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, to the Makati Medical Center, as she was then feared to deliver their first child.
He earned the ire of the MMC for being at the hospital premises although he was on self-quarantine following concerns that he or his colleagues in the 24-member Senate could have been infected with the deadly coronavirus disease during a Senate committee hearing.
After learning from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) that he was COVID-19 positive, Pimentel left the MMC not knowing whether his wife was COVID-19 positive or negative.
Kathryna later posted through social media that they have a baby girl.
The place of her delivery has not been mentioned.
Pimentel said women worry about COID-19 and they worry about their pregnancy.
‘’Hence professional competent attention to this matter must now be given by our experts. A game plan should be put in place for COVID-19 positive mothers-to-be,’’ he said.
‘’The venue for the delivery as well as the team of heroic doctors nurses and other health workers who are willing to work on these cases must be identified, prepared, and properly equipped as early as possible,’’ he added.