Dr.

Jose Fabella Hospital History

The Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital started as a six-bed capacity clinic called the "Maternity House" on November 9, 1920. This clinic, which was founded by then Chairman of Public Welfare Board, Dr. Jose Fabella, was originally located at Sampaloc, Manila. In 1922, the clinic added a pediatric section and a school of midwifery. In 1931, the control of the clinic was shifted to the Bureau of Health and again to the Bureau of Hospitals in 1947. It was in 1951 when the clinic was transferred to its present location in Santa Cruz, Manila. Unlike other Philippine government hospitals, there were no legislative act that permitted the creation of the hospital. Its present location was only legitimized by Administrative Order no. 140 ,which was issued by President Manuel L. Quezon on February 19, 1941. The Administrative Order recommended that the Bilibid Hospital will be used as a maternity hospital. On June 15, 1968 when the Maternity and Children's Hospital was renamed as Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in honor of the hospital's founder. To date, it has an authorized bed capacity of 700. The Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital School of Midwifery is housed within the hospital. It is a government institution managed by the Department of Health.

Reputation
"Baby Factory" The hospital is considered as a "baby factory" as 20 percent of all babies in Metro Manila are born here. As of 2003, it has an average of 88 daily live births. The reputation of the hospital as a baby factory is well justified, no other hospital in the Philippines has a higher birth rate. Fabella caters to the greater manila area and there were instances that even at the height of storms and typhoons that a woman will brave the floods just to come to Fabella because compared to most Hospitals, even in some provinces, Fabella is one of the most affordable places to give birth in. If you can withstand the population, the heat and the rumors about baby exchanges in the ward or in the delivery room. This is a media fabrication as hospital staff know well that babies even before they are even seen by the doctor after coming out of their mothers are already attached 2 tags on the ankle and one the wrist which makes it nearly impossible to mistake a baby. Mothers are also give this ID tags just to make sure the child is being given to the right mother. So the Baby factory term is true as also back in the early 2000's there were quite a few staff working in each area. Nowadays, there are more staff as there are more patients also but the RN Heals program give way for more staff to stay with the veteran staff as well as the hospital's way of helping a number of fresh nursing graduates to earn their experiences as a stepping stone in case they search for greener pastures.

Areas of the hospital

Since it is a mother and baby care hospital, all wards cater to mothers and babies only. Ward 1 is specifically for abortion and gynecology and oncology cases. Ward 2 is for High-Risk mothers awaiting to give birth that are being observed due to some common pregnancy complications such as hypertension, placenta-previa and abruptio placentae just to name the most common. Ward 2 like ward 1 is also divided into several areas: namely the Kangaroo Mother care area where the mothers who have given birth to underweight babies stay and nurture their children while

in the NICU until they are ready to be discharged. The second areas is where most of the high risk patients come after giving birth. Most of the cases are hypertensive, hypokalemic and diabetic just to name the most common complications. Besides the Maternal High Risk area, there is also a room for ICU patients and this room can only accommodate 2 patients before. Ward 3 is assigned for those Caesarian patients who have fewer complications. It is the second most populous ward in the hospital, sometimes amounting to more than 100 pairs of patients (mother and baby) Ward 4 is where most of the Normal delivery patients end up, This is the most populous ward and patients have been known to reach more than 300 pairs most especially on the "ber" months. There is also the NICU area where most of the babies are taken care of after being born. This area alone is divided into several areas on their own depending on the patient condition and/or complication. There is the pediatric ward where though it is on a separate building, it is still a part of the hospital. This area caters to most pediatric cases provided there are instruments and doctors are able to handle the case. Some special cases that cannot be handled here are sent to neighboring hospitals where they can be treated with better equipment and staff. The emergency area where expectant mothers are assessed and admitted before they are sent to either the MHR, Labor room or in the wards The OR complex as it is called in Fabella is a combination of a Labor Room where laboring patients are prepared before going to the operating rooms or in the delivery room. The OR Complex is made up of 4 operating rooms, 1 delivery room (which can accommodate 12-20 laboring patients at any given time), a Labor room with around 5-8 beds, a post-anesthesia Care Room (recovery room) which can accommodate around 58 patients. The operating room mostly operates on Caesarian sections and rare gynecology cases and even rarer Pediatric cases. Pediatric cases where done by a visiting pediatric surgeon before. Consultants with mixed specializations also visit the hospital to guide the residents as this hospital is mostly a resident-reliant hospital. Usually one consultant is present at any given time to guide a specific team he/she is assigned to. There is also an out-patient clinic in the hospital where expectant mothers undergo routine tests in order to assess fetal and mother well-being.