The nearest hospital...say no more!

The MWB maternity clinic is generally the equivalent to birth centers in the UK; led and run only by midwives.  If a problem arises during the pregnancy, labour, delivery or postnatal period and the mother requires the care of a doctor she would have to be transferred to the nearest hospital. I have been lucky enough to visit one of the hospitals that the women are referred to if there is a problem.  It's called the General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital, and is one of the very few government hospitals in the province, located 30-40 minutes drive away from the MWB base.
Most of the hospitals here are private hospitals. Women would have to pay 800 pesos for the standard room, and up to 2000 pesos for the 'delux' room...and that's just for the room. It would be around £31...which isn't much for us, but here it's an amount that a lot of people can only dream of. This does not include the cost of all the equipment used, medicine and doctor visits.
On the whole, women receive free care in a government hospital. Some still have to pay, but I think the maximum is around 150 pesos. They all however have to pay for used equipment and medicines.  Money is the main reason for women to chose a government hospital over a private hospital, and that's why many of these hospitals are over crowded. One hospital in Manila, for example, have over 80 births every day! 80 BIRTHS...EVERY DAY!!! I'll stick to working in Carmarthen I think!

Well, the hospital I visited was a government hospital, with around 15- 20 deliveries a day.  The child health and maternity wing had just been built about 2 years ago- that's the only part of the hospital we had a tour of! Say no more!
We were not allowed to go into the delivery room because we didn't have our scrubs on, but we were told that it was one room with a few delivery beds in it, so respecting patients privacy and dignity is not high on the list of Midwives Rules and Standards here.

As we entered this room, our 'tour guide' explained that this was the Postnatal High Risk room. So women who have had pre-eclampsia, ante/postpartum haemorrhage, diabetes, cesarian sections etc all go in this room. When we visited it wasn't the peak season for deliveries, so she explained that it wasn't that busy! 2-3 women were sharing a bed, along with their babies. If the bed was too crowded, the babies would have the bed and the women the floor.  In the corner of this room was a young woman crying; she looked so hurt. I felt so helpless because of the language difference-I couldn't help her. I don't know whether it was physical pain that she was feeling or whether it was emotional; I couldn't see a baby next to her. It was so sad, and there was nothing I could do.


This was the Normal Delivery Postnatal room...again this wasn't peak season! Looks pretty crowded to me! Up to 5 women and their babies fit in these beds during the busiest times. Crazy! Women have to stay for at least 24 hours post delivery before going home.

Workers from MWB often visit local hospitals and volunteer in general nursing care-washing some of the children/elderly or building maintenance eg. painting or cleaning.


When we visited the children's ward i saw this 'machine' that was obviously a DIY job, and I asked what it was. I was told it was a CPAP machine made by them in the hospital. This is a machine that gives Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, so if a baby/child has respiratory depression then this machine will be used to help them breathe.  Guess which picture is from the UK and which is from the hospital here! As strange as it looks to have half a water dispenser bottle over a baby's head, I'm impressed with their creativity!