When I think back on delivering all four of my children, I do not often think about the problems that occurred or the pain, I remember holding my babies for the first time. That is until I read an article on births in the Philippines. First I will tell you about the birth of my last child. He was not the worst, nor was he the best birth I experienced. He was typical, until the end. I had started bleeding heavily and I remember being really scared. I know that women can die in child birth, but I never thought problems would happen to me, especially here in America. They asked my husband to move out of the way and they took my baby from me. I do believe I blacked out for a while. The problem was I was hemorrhaging and they could not stop the bleeding. I do not remember much, but my doctor obviously did stop the bleeding eventually and my son is now 12. Now, for the story about women giving birth in the Philippines. I chose the Philippines because that is where my husband is from, my children are half Filipino. After reading the article I realized how truly lucky I was, to be here in America and to be able to receive the care I did. Many women/girls in the Philippines do not have access to the resources that are available here, many women/girls in the Philippines die every year. According to MNPI (n.d.), between 4-5 thousand women/girls die every year and many more become disabled from complications during or after child birth. One of the causes of death is bleeding/hemorrhaging during or after birth. There are some similarities like clinics for women to obtain care for before, during, and after child birth. There are also family planning centers for care and immunizations and postpartum checkups. However, they are limited and therefore many women, especially those in rural areas do not receive the care they desperately need. I have added the link to the article I read if any of you would like to read more about it. http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/MNPI/Philippines_MNPI.pdf
Maternal and neonatal program effort index: A tool for maternal health advocates. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/MNPI/Philippines_MNPI.pdf
