Lying seven to a cot, maternity wards in Manila would seem to be a little overcrowded.But the burden may lighten soon if a Philippines family planning bill becomes law.
The bill on maternal health care, which requires the government to promote artificial contraception if it becomes law, has become a battleground between the powerful church and activists in the staunchly Roman Catholic nation.
Some bishops have said they will refuse communion and other sacraments to politicians who support the bill, set to be discussed this month in the House of Representatives.
Others warn that the church's crucial backing in the 2010 presidential and congressional elections will only be given to those who oppose the bill.
'I have never seen the bishops so aggressive in a campaign to block a piece of social legislation as in this case against the reproductive health care bill,' said Aries Rufo, a journalist who has been covering church issues for more than a decade.
'In the last six attempts to legislate a population policy, a bill never gets out of the committee level in the lower house. It is only now that the chance of passing a law on family planning is really high.'
The bill was approved by the House Committee on Health last month, setting the stage for a test of strength with the church, which has played a key role in the ouster of two presidents in the past three decades and blocked legislation on divorce, abortion and family planning.
Currently the government leaves family planning issues to local governments and few of them promote artificial contraception.
The church advocates abstinence to control population.
While a relatively small middle class in the Philippines can easily afford contraceptives, millions of poor women cannot. A month's supply of the pill costs 39 pesos or around $0.86, around half the average daily salary of almost half the population.
Without an effective birth control policy, the Philippines, already the world's 12th most populous country with 90 million people, is projected to have a population of over 140 million by 2040.
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(Source: DMO)