Manila -
The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is to investigate a hospital for taping a baby's mouth shut, reports said on Tuesday.
The baby was in hospital at Cebu Puericulture Centre and Maternity House in Cebu City in the central Philippines due to an infection, when his parents Ryan Noval and Jasmine Badocdoc came to visit on May 9 and found his lips sealed with adhesive tape.
A nurse told them the baby, born on May 3, had been crying too loudly.
The case caused a public outcry after the father posted a photo of his son with lips taped up on Facebook.
“Meet my son Yohannes Noval!! He cannot speak about his horrific experience from the attending nurse's hands inside Maternity Hospital's nursery ... so we have to speak out for him,” he wrote.
Though the parents of the infant have yet to file a formal complaint, the DOH in the central Visayas region is set to conduct an investigation into the hospital including the nurses on duty at the time, daily newspaper Sun.Star Cebu reported.
The hospital said the tape was used to prevent the baby's pacifier from falling out but the parents felt the use of a pacifier, if true, could have choked the baby.
The health department also said pacifiers should not be used on newborns as the objects may be a source of infection. - Sapa-dpa