Family seeks justice for death of pregnant woman, child in Sampaloc hospital

The family of the pregnant woman who died with her baby in Manila is seeking to file charges against the hospital that turned her away when she was already due to give birth.

According to a Tuesday report by Maki Pulido for 24 Oras, Myra Morga’s sisters and live-in partner Danilo Publico went to the Manila City Hall to raise their complaints about the Ospital ng Sampaloc and its medical staff.

They were met by the city’s Legal Office, the body conducting investigations into the case.

“Scavenger lang po ‘yung kapatid ko; nangangalakal, madungis. Kailangan nilang ipagtabuyan? Itaboy na hindi nila intindihin?” Morga’s sister Rebecca said.

The family also appealed for financial aid to pursue legal action against the hospital.

"Tulungan [niyo] po kami na kasi mahirap lang po kami, hindi po namin kaya mga abogado o anuman,” Rebecca said.

According to the family, Morga was brought to the Ospital ng Sampaloc at 8 a.m. on October 21 because of her bleeding, but she was told by the doctors to transfer to the Sta. Ana Hospital as they did not have the needed facilities for her case.

The family said it was not until 12 p.m. that she was taken by an ambulance to Sta. Ana.

Rebecca decried how the ambulance responders merely dropped them off a block away from the emergency room of the Sta. Ana Hospital, forcing the victim to walk the rest of the way to the hospital.

"Nung nakita ng ambulansya na bumagsak kapatid ko, pinagmasdan lang nila kami. Dapat ‘Ay, tulungan natin, hinatid na lang natin.’ Hindi nila ginawa ‘yun,” she said.

Morga received a blood transfusion at 10 p.m. as she was in critical condition due to her excessive bleeding.

At 12 a.m., she gave birth to her son who had already died in her womb.

At 1:42 a.m., Morga passed away.

The Manila City Hall sacked the doctor, nurse, and ambulance driver of the Ospital ng Sampaloc while they are conducting investigations.

In a meeting with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Monday, the administrators of the two hospitals explained the actions taken by their staff. 

The Ospital ng Sampaloc director said Morga was in stable condition when they asked her to transfer hospitals.

The Sta. Ana Hospital director meanwhile said they were not able to perform the transfusion until 10 p.m. as they still had to look for bags of blood. —Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF, GMA News