Blog 11: At a Manila Hospital Making Mothers by the Minute, Jennfier Wall November 9 2012 2:25pm

Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital is a government ran maternity hospital in Manila. It serves women that cannot afford to go to a private hospital to give birth. It is an overcrowded hospital where woman have to wait in line outside, even to the point of having to sleep on the sidewalk. When they do get in, they are forced to sleep two in the bed and are usually released within 48 hours. The Philippines has one of the highest birthrates in Asia. Compared with the birthrate in the United States, which is 13.7 out of 1,000 people, the birthrate in the Philippines is 24.8 out of 1,000. Many of these births are from women that are poor and cannot afford birth control. For many years, the Philippine Congress, the House of Representatives has been trying to pass a bill to subsidize contraception and sex education. However, after not being able to reach an agreement with the bill, they have finally decided to end the debate. The people that were for the bill argued that by providing birth control and sex education, women would have fewer children and finally be able to get out of poverty. The people opposed to the bill argued that birth control goes against their moral beliefs and religion. Also, it is their argument that a high birthrate helps the economy and reduces poverty.

In such situations, it would appear clear that women having so many children are only making the problem of poverty worse. It may be true that having a larger population filed with younger people could possibly contribute to the economic base. However, it is also true that when women, who are already poor, continue to have children, it creates a cycle of poverty that they can never escape. Many of the women would use birth control if they had an opportunity to do so. Providing the contraceptives and education to the people would be of a much greater benefit to their society than having to provide care for the mothers and children during and after birth. It would appear, at least to me, that this should be their top priority for the country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/world/asia/10iht-manila10.html?ref=world&_r=0