Transforming the Birth Experience in the Philippines with Quality Maternity Care and Free Birth Centers
Updated on May 6, 2026
Maternal and infant survival rates at Mercy in Action birth centers are four times higher than the national average.
For more than a decade, Vitamin Angels has partnered with Mercy in Action, a Philippines-based nonprofit that has been sponsoring free birth centers and facilitating the delivery of quality maternity care since 1991. Together, we work to connect women and children across the archipelago with life-saving nutrition solutions. With over 16,000 babies born in their facilities, Mercy in Action has profoundly impacted the lives of families across the Philippines. Our partnership helps deepen that impact even further.
Licensed Filipina midwives run the birth centers with the goal of providing free maternity care to underserved families. The centers focus on offering respectful and compassionate care, while implementing evidence-based practices that encourage positive outcomes for mothers and babies. As part of our partnership, Vitamin Angels provides multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS)—also known as prenatal vitamins and minerals—to ensure that pregnant women receive critical nutrition to support their health and their baby’s development. With our support, Mercy in Action provides high-quality, holistic maternity services that aim to eliminate typical obstacles to care while promoting shared decision-making, kindness, and safe birthing practices.
“Every day, eight hundred girls and women die in pregnancy and childbirth. We are here to change that.”
– Vicki Penwell, Founder, Mercy in Action
In the Philippines, neonatal and maternal mortality rates are alarmingly high. However, the situation is starkly different at Mercy in Action’s birth centers. Thanks to the devoted services of the organization’s midwives, in 2019 their centers reported a maternal mortality rate nearly 50% lower than the national average and neonatal mortality rates more than 75% lower.
Mercy in Action attributes these excellent maternity care outcomes to high-quality, comprehensive maternity care that strives to remove common barriers to care and promotes shared decision-making, kindness, and safe birth practices. These are values that align directly with Vitamin Angels’ mission to save lives and improve the health of women and children through proven nutrition solutions.
Several barriers to care include financial constraints, lack of transportation to healthcare facilities, and a shortage of professionally trained birth attendants in local communities. Mercy in Action is actively addressing each of these issues. The organization strategically places clinics in low-resource communities to make transportation less of a barrier. Their services are provided at no cost, alleviating financial stress, and, in some centers, they also offer feeding programs. In an effort to increase the number of trained birth attendants, they operate an accredited midwifery college.
12 Steps to Safe and Respectful Care: An International Model
All of Mercy in Action’s sponsored birth centers have undergone a comprehensive accreditation process to become approved clinical sites for the implementation of the International Childbirth Initiative (ICI): 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful Mother-Baby-Family Maternity Care. The initiative provides clear steps to implement evidence-based maternity care worldwide. Representatives from Mercy in Action have been invited to educate hospitals, professional associations, and clinical settings in the Philippines about this model, along with providing global instruction via webinars.
MEET BEBERLY
Beberly began her journey as a midwife in 2018 and has since attended more than 500 births. interested in nursing, Beberly cultivated her passion for midwifery after earning a scholarship. The most rewarding aspect of her job is when a mother thanks her while holding her healthy newborn baby.
“It’s amazing to deliver a baby, to help the mother give birth.”
-Beberly, a midwife at Mercy in Action
Midwives on a Mission
Just a few steps from the Pacific Ocean, Mercy in Action’s birth center in Tanauan, on the island of Leyte, provides free services to the local Filipino community. The center, under the leadership of the passionate midwife, Nerissa, was rebuilt after Typhoon Yolanda devastated the area.
Nerissa and her team of skilled and empathetic midwives are dedicated to supporting the entire pregnancy journey, from educating expectant women to standing by their sides during labor and beyond.
The team hosts regular “buntis” congresses. “Buntis” is a Filipino word meaning pregnant or pregnant woman. During these monthly gatherings, also referred to as “Congresses,” the Mercy in Action team shares information on family planning, safe pregnancies, and nutrition with expecting women. This initiative is an integral part of the Department of Health’s High Impact Breakthrough Strategies (Hi5), which are aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality rates.
When it comes time for delivery, the birth center considers every need. Accommodation is covered from the time a woman arrives until after delivery, with provision of free, nutritious meals. During labor, trained health workers focus on creating a safe and supportive environment and help to ensure that mothers are comfortable by offering various services such as massage and breathing exercises. Mothers may also have a supportive companion, a spouse, sibling, or friend present throughout. This model of care improves birth outcomes and has grown in popularity throughout the community.
Vitamin Angels’ Reach Across the Philippines
Our partnership with Mercy in Action is one of 42 partnerships Vitamin Angels maintains across the Philippines, all working to connect women and children with proven nutrition solutions. In 2025 alone, Vitamin Angels has reached over 554,952 pregnant women and babies with multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS)—also known as prenatal vitamins and minerals. Learn more about our programs in the Philippines.
By amplifying the work of organizations like Mercy in Action—those closest to the communities they serve—Vitamin Angels helps ensure that more women have access to the care, nutrition, and support they need during one of life’s most critical moments.
