Building New Birth Center in Olongapo, Philippines

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

An ancient proverb advises, “Through wisdom a house is built,” and that is our intention and method for establishing this new birth center.  I spent most of the month of April living and working in the new building where our birth center is being established.  It is in an ideal location in Olongapo!  It is within easy walking distance to shopping for anything needed.  It is across the street from the local hospital, which has facilitated a strong collaborative relationship with the staff there.  We have already been invited to the hospital several times to offer in-service training about life-saving interventions, and it is so easy to continue those relationships because they are just across the street.  The proximity to the hospital also eliminates one of the three deadly delays that cause unnecessary maternal deaths because the transport time is so fast.

The birth center is located on the ground floor corner of the building, with easy access for patients.  Public transportation routes already exist right at the entrance, making it feasible for families to access care from other parts of the city. 

The multi-story building is still under construction, with the clinic space on the ground floor as the priority for being finished.  The clinic space is well-designed, offering privacy for clients, meeting areas for staff, and an apartment space for the on-call midwife.  The clinic is already full of activity for prenatal and postpartum appointments, offering health teachings to other colleagues, and Mercy in Action midwives and Kasamas (companions following families for the First 1,000 Days of a child’s life) working on various outreach projects.  On the 5^th floor of the building, there is a completed apartment for Mercy in Action staff and visitors, and this is where Vicki lives.  Our head midwife, Marlene, also has an apartment upstairs beside the Mercy headquarters apartment.  Getting up and down from the apartment has been good exercise until very recently, when the elevator was completed!  Each day, there is progress towards the building’s completion!

These pictures demonstrate how your generosity has provided for a beautiful, functional clinical site where mothers, babies, and families receive respectful care.  Thank you for your faithful giving to this project!

Kindly,

Jenny Fox, For the Mercy In Action Team

Links:

• Mercy in Action