UNFPA Central Emergency Response Fund project helped expectant mothers in Mindanao survive earthquakes and COVID-19 – Philippines

Kidapuan City, North Cotabato, Philippines – No pregnancy development or childbirth waiting to recover from a natural disaster or pandemic – 30-year-old Margie Bethel estimates how true this is, and recalls how she went during her second pregnancy recently.

The provinces of North Cotabato and Davao del Sur were hit by a series of large-scale earthquakes in October 2019. More than a dozen earthquakes were above 5.0 on the Richter scale, reaching M6.6. Hundreds of aftershocks after these big earthquakes. The strong shaking destroyed or completely destroyed 73,100 homes, weakening critical infrastructure, including roads, schools and hospitals, disrupting basic services in the areas of health, clean water, hygiene, sanitation and education. Of the 1.8 million people living in the affected areas, nearly 630,000 people were in need of assistance, including 70,000 displaced people and forced to remain in tents and government facilities that have been turned into evacuation centers. In total, 36 people were killed and more than 770 injured due to collapsing structures, debris fall, cardiac arrest and other trauma associated with the earthquake.

An anxious or pregnant mother at the evacuation site

Margie was 2 months pregnant at the time. She remembered that she, her son, and her mother were inside their little log cabin near the crater of a mountain. Apo, the dormant volcano in the country, when a powerful earthquake struck her town. They had to run and look for cover, as large rocks were falling towards their house. “Just like everyone else, we fled to safer areas without bringing clothes or any valuables.”

“There were a lot of people in the evacuation centers. I was so scared. I was confused, I don’t know what to do, where to go to stay and sleep, where to get our food for the next day. We didn’t have a steady income either. So we were lucky to receive. Some help, but it was never enough. “

“The situation has worsened with COVID-19,” Margie said. Her family and others have been displaced by the October 2019 earthquake for so long that they also have had to endure the added anxiety of the massive outbreak of the epidemic in the makeshift shelters. “Our movements were really limited,” said Margie, “but we don’t want to get sick either.” “I was afraid that my second child would not survive in this stressful situation.”

Humanitarian emergencies, such as natural disasters and epidemics, bear the brunt of the negative impacts on women and children. One in five women diagnosed of childbearing age is likely to be pregnant, which makes expectant mothers more vulnerable to health problems. Access to maternal health services may be disrupted due to damage to health facilities, and the number of health service providers available may decrease.

“I didn’t know where to go to give birth. So I started preparing for the birth at the evacuation center,” Marge said. “I didn’t think to go to the doctor for antenatal checkups, because we didn’t have enough money, not even for food. I thought I had to be alive for a few more months for the baby.”

The maternal health and “money for health” tents have saved children and mothers

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Philippines saw 2,600 to 2,700 women die each year from complications from pregnancy or childbirth. Maternal mortality in 2020 could jump to 3,170 due to the effects of the epidemic and quarantine, according to a recent study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Philippines.

In the earthquake-affected cities of Makilala, Toulonan and Kidapawan, UNFPA and its implementing NGO partner Mindanao Organization for Social and Economic Advancement have set up three emergency maternity tents for use in makeshift maternity clinics. These facilities, set up by the United Nations Population Fund with support from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), have supported nearly 1,800 pregnant women, including Margie.

The maternal health facility in Kidapawan city was also affected by the earthquakes. “But life-saving reproductive health services in the city did not stop even after the earthquakes, due to the donation of fully furnished maternity tents and other forms of support,” said Dr. Jocelyn Etul-Insenzo, Kidapawan City Health Officer, appreciating the emergency assistance provided by the United Nations Population Fund. And the Ministry of Economic and Social Affairs as well as other partners. “Even now with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, these tents give us the assurance that our city is able to continue essential services for pregnant women.”

In addition to providing maternal health tents that also help separate pregnant women from COVID-19 patients, the United Nations Population Fund has also launched a new ‘Cash for Health’ (C4H) scheme. C4H was an innovation to help discourage unsafe home delivery practices, but instead encourages safe pregnancy, facility deliveries and postpartum care, by removing economic barriers that prevent them from accessing these essential services. UNFPA is offering cash incentives worth 800 Philippine pesos (about 16 USD) to women who have completed the four recommended antenatal care visits at a health facility; 1,000 PHP (US $ 20) for a childbirth at a rural health unit; And PHP 200 ($ 4) for postpartum care use. The United Nations Population Fund also provided maternity kits to Margie and other pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Dr. Etulle-Encienzo believes that the monetary incentives prompted pregnant women in earthquake-affected areas to improve their health-seeking behaviors to take advantage of services in health facilities. Margie testified, “I didn’t expect to receive cash every time I visited the health center to get tested. Even with COVID-19, I knew where to go to keep my unborn baby, and I’m healthy and safe.”

The future of those displaced by earthquakes is uncertain, as returning to their original homes remains precarious due to exposure to another potential major earthquake. Nevertheless, Margi is grateful to the United Nations Population Fund, the Ministry of Social and Economic Affairs and local government agencies who continue to take care of their needs during their long stay in the evacuation centers.

“I want to celebrate the fact that my daughter survived. I have kept some of the money I received from C4H for her future,” said Margie with a snorting smile as she held her two-month-old daughter in her arms.

* To bolster life-saving reproductive health support for women and girls affected by the pandemic, the United Nations Population Fund in the Philippines is appealing for additional financial support as part of the global humanitarian response plan to COVID-19. *

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