Help Pregnant Patients during Coronavirus Pandemic

We appreciate your support of our maternity care services during this time of pandemic; your giving makes all the difference. Three years in, the evidence thus far shows that pregnant women infected with COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)  are at higher risk for severe disease, death, and complications in their pregnancies.

Why, you may ask?

During pregnancy, the body undergoes drastic physical and immunological changes to accommodate the growing baby, and some of these changes increase vulnerability to respiratory viruses such as COVID-19. For example, during pregnancy you produce more blood than normal in order to sustain the placenta. To pump that blood around, cardiovascular output can increase by as much as 40 percent, leaving you more vulnerable to heart attack and heart failure—conditions that overlap with COVID-19 complications. As the uterus grows it pushes against the diaphragm, making it difficult to draw deep breaths or to cough forcefully, which is why when you are pregnant, you are at a higher risk for developing pneumonia if exposed to the COVID-19 virus. 

These and other possible reasons are why COVID-19 hits our population more severely. Mercy In Action ensures that women get the support they need through prenatal care, vitamins and food as needed to support a healthy pregnancy for everyone we serve. During labor and delivery, local families are cared for in our facility, where we follow the 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful Maternity Care. And postpartum, we provide checkups for the mother and baby and follow the progress and development of the child for two full years.

With your support, we are able to care for more than 50 mothers each month in our clinics and birth centers in the Philippines, keeping our motto to provide "Safe Motherhood and Newborn Survival: One Good Birth at a Time" even in these difficult times of global pandemic.

Blessings and gratitude,

Vicki

Links:

• Mercy In Action website