|
Quezon Province, comprising 39 municipalities and a population of over two million, faces significant geographic and resource barriers to maternal and newborn health care. Many pregnant women must travel long distances over poor road networks to access birthing facilities or hospitals, resulting in delays that continue to contribute to preventable maternal and neonatal deaths.
The project "Wheels for Life - Save Moms & Babies" aims to reduce these preventable deaths by expanding access to quality, timely, and continuous maternal and newborn health services across Quezon Province. This will be achieved by strengthening the existing Mobile Women's Health Caravan, fully integrated into the Quezon Health Care Provider Network (HCPN), and by delivering coordinated, team-based capacity-building for frontline health workers.
Through this Global Grant, Rotary will:
> Expand mobile, on-site maternal and neonatal services for underserved communities across 41 rural birthing units and 14 district hospitals;
> Train and upskill local health personnel in essential and emergency maternal and newborn care;
> Strengthen referral pathways between rural facilities and higher-level hospitals;
> Enhance critical care capacity at the provincial referral hospital, Quezon Medical Center (QMC), including the procurement of one neonatal/pediatric ventilator for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to improve management of respiratory distress, prematurity, sepsis-related respiratory failure, and other neonatal emergencies.
The project incorporates data-driven monitoring and evaluation in partnership with the Quezon Provincial Health Office to ensure sustainability, accountability, and long-term impact on maternal and newborn health outcomes.
| 
