In 1996 there was a call for charter membership among perinatologists in the country, whose objectives included fostering the development of perinatal medicine in the Philippines and to act as the subspecialty society of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society with special interest in maternal and fetal medicine.

On the 22nd day of November, the first inaugural meeting and Annual Convention was held with Dr. Walfrido W. Sumpacio then inducted as the first president of The Philippine Society of Perinatal Obstetricians. Initially were 4 training member institutions which included MCU-FDTMF Hospital, Perinatal Center (PCMC), UP-Philippine General Hospital and University Tomas Hospital.

By 2000, the first set of regional directors were chosen to effectively achieve the Society’s vision and mission through various chapters that were set up to involve its members outside of the National Capital Region in the attainment of the society’s goals.

In the next four years, with the growing number of members of the society, it was officially registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock and non-profit organization now known as the Philippine Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Inc.

In the almost 24 years of the society’s existence, it has grown to have 224 active members distributed in all 13 regions of the country.

The current global pandemic of COVID-19 which is caused by the SARS-CoV 2 virus, considered a serious public health emergency is particularly deadly to populations who are identified as vulnerable. In an attempt to control substantial morbidity and socioeconomic impact from this pandemic drastic measures across all continents included nationwide lockdowns, international travel bans and border closures.

The pregnant woman and her fetus is especially vulnerable during infectious disease outbreaks because of the physiological and mechanical changes in pregnancy makin them highly susceptible to any infection. These unique changes in pregnancy present a challenge to maternal fetal medicine specialists to come up with an integrated approach in the management of affected pregnant women.

The Philippine Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, in a quest to identify specific patterns in COVID-19 positive women, initiated a COVID-19 registry to study factors which are integral to understanding the pathophysiology and susceptibility, diagnostic challenges with RT-PCR assays or other diagnostic modalities, therapeutic approaches including the novel use of hydroxychloroquine, fetal surveillance in view of the fetus’ susceptibility to premature birth and growth restriction, intrauterine transmission and maternal-fetal complications will be addressed in the registry.

As a subspecialty society that aims to cultivate teamwork and collaboration with other subspecialty societies particularly the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the Philippine Infectious Disease Society in OB-GYN, we aim to come up with a unified Nationwide Statistics on COVID-19 in Pregnancy to derive substantial data and share a framework that can be adapted by maternity units managing women with this disease.