Building New Birth Center in Olongapo, Philippines

Dear Friends,

We have some very exciting news to share with you!  This week we have received clearance from the Philippines Department of Health to open all services at our Olangapo birth center fully!  Our Mercy in Action-sponsored midwives have already been serving their local community with prenatal and postpartum care, education for families, and offering professional development for colleagues, and now they can also provide midwifery care at the time of labor and birth!  This is a huge win!

Thank you for your faithful support that has made it possible for this birth center to be constructed according to the health department’s specifications, and staffed with excellent midwives who are eager to offer respectful care in their community.  We will keep you informed of progress and let you know when the first baby is born in this newest of our Mercy In Action-sponsored birth centers in the Philippines.

Blessings to you!

Jenny Fox, for the Mercy in Action Team

Links:

• Mercy in Action

Dear supporters and friends,

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, best wishes and support as we build our newest Mercy In Action birth center and clinic in Olongapo, Philippines. Perhaps the hardest part of the entire process is where we are now - navigating permits and other bureaucratic red tape.

On that front, we have an exciting update to report! The Occupancy Permit was finally granted —the first step toward our Department of Health License for this facility!  This part took so long due to many factors; this is our first time building a clinic and birth center in a larger medical complex, and so the entire process was more complex! 

In this new, bright and beautiful clinic, our midwives have already been providing prenatal and postpartum care, however, we need the full DOH license in order to operate fully for deliveries. And while everyone is anxious to get fully open for births, we are already doing so much patient care in the new facility, and it is already impacting the surrounding community in big and significant ways. We have been holding on-site training sessions and providing support and capacity-building for our local medical community.

Thank you for your support; it is so appreciated and more meaningful to our patients than you can imagine! 

Love and blessings,

Vicki Penwell

For the Mercy In Action team

Links:

• Mercy In Action website
• Mercy In Action Birth Centers in the Philippines