Birth Center Saves MotherBaby Lives in Philippines

In addition to our day-to-day work of delivering babies, this week our Mercy In Action staff in the Philippines are again responding to another major disaster on Leyte island, this one caused by Tropical storm Megi. The storm last week caused a catastrophic landslide leading to hundreds of deaths and displacing millions of people near our birth center. Our staff was asked by a local humanitarian group to come as perinatal healthcare providers and lactation experts to support the traumatized survivors who are pregnant or have small babies.  We have sent extra donations with our staff to the evacuation centers to support the victims of this deadly landslide with medical aid and pregnancy and breastfeeding support.  Many new mothers were ready to give up breastfeeding because they were stressed by the trauma of loss, grief, and homelessness. Our teaching to both the mothers and the officials in charge of the evacuation centers was to do all in our power to support the MotherBaby unit, as breastfeeding is a stress relief to both of them in hard times. Pregnant women and mothers need to be supported and nurtured during times of evacuation and displacement from their homes, which is what we always seek to do.

Although disaster response is not something Mercy In Action intended to become involved with when we started providing midwife-led maternity care in the Philippines in 1991, we now are fully aware that understanding the basics of best practices in disaster response is essential knowledge for maternity care providers in areas like the Philippines where natural disasters frequently occur.

Thank you for your support of Mercy In Action birth centers in the Philippines, where our midwives and support staff go above and beyond the call of duty when disasters impact the women and babies in their communities.

Blessings and love to you and yours,

Vicki

Links:

• Mercy In Action website