Streets of Metro Manila are fast becoming the instant delivery room for pregnant women who stuck in traffic as a result of road closure.
Another woman gave birth Friday morning along the Coastal Road in Parañaque City after the public utility bus she and her husband riding encountered heavy traffic on their way to Manila from Tanza in Cavite.
Aileen Butacain, 31, named her baby girl “Coastaline,” after the name of Coastal Mall where she gave birth around 8 a.m. with the help of a mall vendor who used to work as a midwife.
Butacain and her husband Enrique were on their way to Ospital ng Maynila, where she was supposed to deliver her baby, when the bus they were riding encountered the traffic gridlock because of the road closure enforced by the government in connection with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila.
“She was already complaining when we reached Coastal Road and because of the heavy traffic, she gave birth here at the mall,” said Enrique.
Later, personnel of the Metro Manila Development Authority manning the area rushed the couple and the newly born child to the hospital.
Last Monday, Lorna Justo gave birth on the sidewalk of President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, also in Parañaque City, because of heavy traffic. It was on Monday when authorities first enforced the road closure and tight security for Apec event.
Angel Ramos-Canoy uploaded to her Facebook account a photo showing the woman giving birth to a baby boy while walking near the City of Dreams Hotel and Casino. Commuters in the area were forced to walk because of the security measures for Apec.
The woman was seen being assisted by policewomen from Quezon City Police District. But Canoy said patrolling policemen refused to let the woman to give birth inside their police mobile.
Canoy said she and other stranded commuters used umbrellas to give the woman some privacy as she gave birth. “All we can do is to give shade through our umbrellas,” she wrote.
Witnesses claimed the policewoman who helped the woman deliver her child was also a midwife while the other man was a trained nurse.
Traffic was heavy in southern part of Metro Manila on Monday, particularly in the areas of World Trade Center, SM Mall of Asia, and the Philippine International Convention Center, all in Pasay City, the official venues of Apec meetings.