DSWD acts on baby-slapping mom; newborn still in ICU

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be taking custody of the infant who was shown being slapped repeatedly by his mother in a video that went viral on social media last week.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said the young mother may be suffering from postpartum depression and having difficulties adjusting to her new responsibilities.

The DSWD-National Capital Region office has sent social workers to check on the situation of the infant, who remained confined at a Pasay City hospital as of Sunday.

Last week, a Facebook user identified as Nil Aquino Sabangan uploaded the video that caught the mother slapping her young child who was crying incessantly as they lay on a hospital bed. The video has been viewed by 1.5 million Facebook users and shared more than 83,000 times as of Sunday.

BIRTH PAINS OF A DARK KIND A videograb from a viral Facebook post shows a mother slapping her newborn child at Pasay City General Hospital. The disturbing scene has prompted an intervention from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
From Nil Aquino Sabangan ‘s Facebook account

According to the post, the video was taken at the Pasay City General Hospital.

Soliman on Sunday said the baby had been moved to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) while the mother was in a separate ward.

Other mothers at the public hospital have volunteered to breast-feed the baby, she noted.

“According to the resident doctors on duty, if the blood culture test of the baby turns out okay, he can be discharged within two to three days,” Soliman said.

The DSWD will be taking custody of the baby while the mother will remain in the hospital as she still has to undergo blood transfusion and psychiatric examination.

The baby will be taken to a DSWD-managed center while the agency searches for a relative who can take care of the infant.

Social workers and experts would be evaluating the mental and psychosocial capability of the mother to take care of her child, Soliman added.–Julie M. Aurelio