SEC. 5. Hiring of Skilled Health Professionals for Maternal Health Care and Skilled Birth Attendance

The LGUs, with the assistance of the DOH, shall employ an adequate number of midwives and other skilled health professionals for maternal health care and skilled birth attendance to achieve a minimum ratio of one (1) fulltime equivalent skilled health professional for every one hundred fifty (150) deliveries per year, to be based on the annual number of actual deliveries or live births for the past two (2) years; Provided, That people in geographically isolated or highly populated and depressed areas shall not be neglected.

For the purposes of this Act, midwives and nurses shall be allowed to administer life-saving drugs, in accordance with the guidelines set by DOH, under emergency conditions and when there are no physicians available; Provided, That they are appropriately trained and certified proficient to administer these life-saving drugs.