The Motherload – Navigating Safe Motherhood
Mothering is a hard gig! It brings equal challenges and rewards to all mums. In the Philippines, women start their families from a young age, with the average age being around 24 years for a first child. More than one million babies are born in the Philippines each year, making parenting a highly important role in society.
Safe Motherhood Week in the Philippines is an annual event that is observed in the second week in May. The event aims to promote safe motherhood practices and raise awareness about maternal and newborn health issues in the country. The theme for Safe Motherhood Week varies each year, but it always focuses on improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality.
In recent years, the Philippines has been working to improve maternal and newborn health, with the government implementing various programs and initiatives to address the issue. Safe Motherhood Week serves as a platform for various stakeholders to come together and share information, experiences, and best practices on maternal and newborn health.
During Safe Motherhood Week, various activities are organized, including health education sessions, seminars, workshops, and community outreach programs. These activities are aimed at educating and empowering women and their families on the importance of safe motherhood practices and the steps they can take to ensure a healthy pregnancy and childbirth.
Currently, all Philippines-born babies are screened for five common conditions including congenital hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, amino acid disorders including phenylketonuria, organic acidemias and fatty acid oxidation defects.
For those who want to have the best possible start into motherhood, there are a range of things you can do to ensure that your baby is healthy, before you even meet them! Mothers wanting peace of mind about their baby can invest in a number of prenatal tests from EasyDNA Philippines. The prenatal suite includes:
Prenatal Peace – a non-invasive test, requiring no risky amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. The Prenatal Peace test screens for a number of genetic conditions and provides accurate results in a timely manner. This test is 100% safe, and screens for 18 genetic conditions, including Down syndrome, Turner’s syndrome and Trisomy 9. Starting at just 10 weeks of pregnancy and using only a maternal blood sample, this test can provide more accurate results compared to traditional screening methods. A standard blood draw is all that is required to undertake the DNA test; however it should be noted that this does not replace a diagnostic test.
Newborn Genetic Test – This NOVA test is suitable for newborns and children up to 5 years of age. NOVA screens for 50 inherited disorders, which have a combined prevalence rate of 1 in every 400 births. This unique test aims to achieve early detection, referral and treatment of all babies identified as high risk of these disorders.
Overall, Safe Motherhood Week in the Philippines is an important event that helps raise awareness and promote safe motherhood practices, which can ultimately lead to better maternal and newborn health outcomes in the country. Motherhood is a challenge but also an ultimate privilege – enjoy every moment!

Christmas is a special time, when we celebrate with family and friends, embarking on our special traditions, which often include worship, feasts, and social events. It’s a time when we relax a little and leave our usual routines behind, but sometimes, it can be hard to refocus and reset ourselves. Did you enjoy the festive season a little too much? Maybe you indulged in too much lechon, puto bumbong or bibingka and are feeling that your pants are a little bit too tight! The new year is upon us, and traditionally, it’s a time to forget about the past and look to the future, and this means taking time to look after ourselves a bit better!
If you’re feeling less than healthy after the festive season but can’t quite get motivated to make a fresh start, then perhaps you need a helping hand to get back on track. The

So, what can we do to help stamp out breast cancer in the Philippines? Surprisingly, the measures can be simple enough to become a part of your everyday life. We all know that regular exercise, consuming the right food, avoiding alcohol and smoking, and adopting good sleep habits could lower the risk of breast cancer, but these do not remove the risk altogether. Perhaps the main key to reducing breast cancer deaths is early detection, in the form of self-examination and mammograms. Mammograms are effective in detecting even early-stage breast cancers and are especially important for women over 40. However, self-examination can be done at home, in the shower, and doesn’t cost a cent.

