April 2, 2026
MANILA – The Philippines has made measurable gains in maternal health in recent years, but experts say progress remains fragile and uneven, especially for newborns and young children whose earliest years shape a lifetime of outcomes.
At the center of the conversation is a growing consensus: Without stronger alignment across policies, programs and providers, the country risks falling short of its Universal Health Care (UHC) promise.
This message echoed throughout NurturePH: A National Dialogue on Maternal and Newborn Health in the UHC Era, a forum held in celebration of Women’s Month. More than 100 stakeholders from government, professional societies, development partners and local health systems gathered to confront persistent gaps in care.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show maternal mortality declined from 151 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 to 119 in 2024. Still, this falls far short of the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
READ: PH goal: Reduce maternal deaths to 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030
Neonatal mortality, meanwhile, has seen only limited improvement, underscoring systemic weaknesses that begin long before childbirth and extend into early childhood.
Fragmented gains, shared challenges
Across the country, programs aimed at improving maternal and newborn health are not lacking. What is missing, stakeholders said, is coherence.
Efforts often operate in silos, fragmented across national agencies, local governments and service providers, resulting in uneven access to timely and quality care.
As the country moves deeper into UHC implementation, speakers stressed that integration is no longer optional — it is essential.
In her keynote message, Health Undersecretary Dr. Gloria J. Balboa underscored the importance of community-centered approaches.
“When communities are informed and empowered, better health outcomes follow,” she said, stressing the need to involve women, families and communities in their care.
The forum emphasized that improving outcomes will require alignment across three critical areas: policy direction, financing mechanisms and service delivery systems — ensuring care is not only available, but accessible, continuous and respectful.
The first 1,000 days and beyond
Central to the discussions was a concept long recognized in public health but still unevenly implemented: the “first 1,000 days” of life.
A joint presentation by Dr. Christia Padolina and Dr. Esterlita Uy highlighted this period, from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday, as a “critical and narrow window of opportunity or vulnerability,” where interventions can have lifelong effects.
During these early years, brain development occurs at an extraordinary pace. Padolina and Uy noted that neurons in a child’s brain can form new connections at the rate of 700 to 1,000 per second — a rate never again repeated in life.
Both experts said this critical window is also a period of heightened vulnerability.
Poor nutrition, illness and adverse environments, including abuse or neglect, can trigger stunting, an irreversible condition with lifelong consequences such as impaired cognitive development, lower educational attainment and reduced economic productivity, Padolina and Uy said.
READ: DOH: Poor nutrition during pregnancy causing kids’ ‘brain stunting’
Data presented during the forum showed that 14 countries account for 80% of stunted children worldwide, with the Philippines among them, ranking ninth globally in terms of the number of stunted children.
Separate data from a study by Unicef and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies stated that in 2023, more than 2 million Filipino children younger than 5, equivalent to 23.6%, were stunted, placing the country among those with the highest prevalence rates. The study noted that this level “has hardly improved in the past two decades and remains higher than in many countries at a similar stage of development.”
Padolina and Uy stressed the conversation should not stop at the first 1,000 days.
“The next 1,000 days,” from ages 2 to 5, also play a crucial role in shaping “cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development,” building on the foundation laid earlier.
Evidence presented by Uy showed children who were stunted at age 2 faced significantly higher risks of lower IQ scores by age 6, with persistent stunting nearly tripling that risk.
Still, the data also offered a measure of hope.
Targeted interventions, particularly improved nutrition, can mitigate some of these effects. In one study cited by Uy, children in daycare centers were given enriched snacks designed to provide at least one-third of the recommended energy and nutrient intake for protein and iron. The intervention used malunggay (Moringa oleifera), a locally available, nutrient-dense plant rich in iron and protein, as a key ingredient in daily meals.
Compared with those who received standard meals, children who were given the fortified snacks showed measurable improvements in cognitive outcomes, including gains in overall IQ scores.
The findings underscore how simple, locally sourced nutritional interventions, when delivered consistently, can help offset the long-term effects of early childhood undernutrition.
“There is still hope among stunted children after 2 years of age,” Uy said.
Barriers within the system
Despite clear evidence of what works, implementation gaps persist.
Padolina and Uy highlighted ongoing challenges in implementing Republic Act 11148, or the First 1,000 Days Law. These include the lack of fully available or integrated services and the absence of institutionalized systems for monitoring child development at the local level.
READ: Maternal, birth care: When life, death are decided by economic status
They also cited gaps in coordination, noting parenting support interventions remain uncoordinated, while the quality and reach of services vary across areas. Limited funding for programs at the local level further constrains delivery.
The law cuts across multiple agencies, including the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units, but the effectiveness of coordinating mechanisms for planning, financing and implementing integrated early childhood care and development services “need to be realized,” according to the presentation.
Partnerships as a way forward
Amid these challenges, stakeholders pointed to partnerships as a critical pathway forward.
One example highlighted during the forum is the collaboration between the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund, working alongside the DOH and local governments in Eastern Visayas to strengthen sexual and reproductive health services.
Dr. Grace Viola of UNFPA emphasized the need to confront systemic barriers head-on.
“To improve outcomes, we must address the ‘Three Delays’: delays in seeking, reaching and receiving quality care,” she said.
Local innovations were also spotlighted, from culturally sensitive maternal care programs in MIMAROPA to initiatives in Ozamiz City addressing adolescent pregnancy while supporting continued education and access to services.
Participants said these efforts demonstrate solutions already exist, but scaling them requires coordination, sustained investment and political will.
A shared commitment
The forum culminated in the signing of a memorandum of agreement among Jhpiego, the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and Unilab Foundation, formalizing a partnership to strengthen collaboration in maternal and newborn health.
The agreement focuses on improving coordination, building health workers’ capacity, promoting evidence-based interventions and ensuring integrated service delivery aligned with UHC goals.
For Jhpiego — an international nonprofit affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1973 to expand access to reproductive health knowledge and services — the partnership reflects a longstanding mission of equipping health systems and providers with practical, scalable solutions that save lives.
As the forum wrapped up, one point kept coming up: Improving outcomes for mothers and newborns will depend less on any single program and more on how well the entire health system works together.
“As the Philippines continues its journey toward Universal Health Care, NurturePH reinforced a shared vision of ensuring that every mother and every newborn have access to quality, respectful and lifesaving care,” the forum organizers said. /dm