ILOILO City – Not all pregnant women are required to undergo coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test when they go to a hospital for obstetrical care, according to the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas.
The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test will be done only when a pregnant woman has come in close contact with a COVID-19 positive patient or if she is a suspicious case of the infection, explained Dr. Sophia Pulmones, chief of the Local Health Support Division of DOH Region 6.
“Considering our limited testing capacity, gina-prioritize ang testing sang mga suspect or symptomatic pregnant women,” said Pulmones.
She cited DOH’s memorandum order No. 2020-0391 containing the Interim Guidelines on the COVID-19 Management of Pregnant Women, Women About to Give Birth and Newborn. It emphasizes that COVID testing “should be based on sound and compassionate clinical judgment.”
Such policy, according to Pulmones, is also aligned with the latest guidelines on DOH’s expanded testing, which prioritize suspect or symptomatic pregnant women to enable them to access specialized care preferably at DOH-run health facilities.
PAVIA CASE
Pulmones made this clarification following reports that some health facilities refused to admit women about to give birth after failing to meet requirements.
On Tuesday, 29-year-old Marilyn Baya from Barangay Cabugao Sur, Pavia town ended up giving birth on the cardboard-covered floor of her small, bare house after she was turned away by a clinic and a hospital.
She failed to meet the requirements asked of her – an RT-PCR test for COVID-19 and an ultrasound.
“Wala kami kwarta para sa RT-PCR test kag pa-ultrasound,” Baya told Panay News.
Worse, according to Baya, she was informed about the requirements by their barangay health workers only on Aug. 31.
Baya said she first went to a clinic in nearby Santa Barbara town at around 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 1. She was turned away for not meeting the two requirements.
She then proceeded to the provincial government-run Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital in Cabatuan town but she was also turned away.
“Nag-try kami basi mabaton ako sang iban nga ospital nga wala gawa kaso sang COVID-19 pero gin balibaran kami,” she lamented.
Baya stayed for about an hour at the Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital despite having labor pains in the hope of being taken in, but to no avail. She decided to just go home and seek a paltera.
“Tani gin-accommodate lang nila ako kay daw mabata na gid ko. Gin labay-labayan lang nila kami. Ang gin una nila ang nagapa-checkup samtang ako nagapasakit na,” said Baya.
The management of Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital could not be reached for comment as of this writing.
PHYSICIAN’S DISCRETION
DOH-6 assistant director Dr. Julia Villanueva, meanwhile, cited an amendment in DOH’s memorandum No. 2020-258A, which states that pregnant patients belonging to Subgroup F “shall be tested during the peripartum period” and “at the discretion of the attending physician following the existing guidelines of their respective professional or medical societies.”
“That’s why diri sa aton ang society sang obgyne naga-require nga dapat may RT-PCR test ang mga pregnant women especially before sila maka-reach sa ila expected date of confinement,” said Villanueva.
Villanueva was referring to the Philippine Obstetric and Gynecological Society – Panay Chapter’s guidelines requiring pregnant women to have negative RT-PCR test result prior to their admission to the health facility./PN
