The Philippines lags behind the rest of Southeast Asia in the provision of FP services, mainly because of challenges in national policy and years of limited support for delivery of FP and reproductive health services.

One of the gaps identified in the provision of FP services is the lack of availability of contraceptive choices immediately following childbirth, especially long-acting and permanent family planning methods (LAPM). During the postpartum period, an intrauterine device (IUD) or tubal ligation, both LAPMs, can be very effective options for women who want to space or limit child bearing.

The United States Agency for International Development’s Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) in the Philippines is a 21-month program (July 2012-March 2014) that works with the Government of the Philippines towards addressing the unmet need for postpartum family planning in the country.

ACTIVITIES

• Advocacy for PPFP/PPIUD to support the DOH to create a favorable environment for FP. MCHIP will develop Advocacy paper for repositioning of PPFP/PPIUD with PPIUD as an integral method for PPFP in collaboration with other agencies and programs.

• Resources for Service Delivery and Training for PPFP/PPIUD in the form of a) center of excellence in selected regions based at the Centre for Health and Development/ DOH Retained Hospitals, including two in Luzon, two in Visayas, four in Mindanao, and two in Metro Manila; b) documentation of best practices and follow up assessment to support replication to other sites; c) updated service delivery guideline for FP with PPFP/PPIUD information; and d) technical resource to other agencies to expand the PPFP/PPIUD services through training and supportive supervision.

• Support to discrete activities on Maternal and Newborn health that include: a) building capacity of newly hired midwives in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM); and b) facilitating a consultancy from a newborn expert to identify a set of activities that MCHIP can propose related to Kangaroo Mother Care and newborn resuscitation.

• MCHIP-Philippines will also be partnering with the Regional Integrated MNCHN-FP Scale Up projects in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to support their effort to expand access to postpartum family planning in their respective regions.

GOAL
To create an enabling policy environment for postpartum family planning/postpartum intrauterine devices (PPFP/PPIUD), to establish resources and capacity for service delivery, and to provide training for PPFP/PPIUD adoption and scale-up through provision of technical assistance to the Department of Health (DOH).