TY - GEN AU - Robleza-Carolino, Xela Patricia C. AU - Jumamil-Mercado, Gloria (Chairperson) AU - Araneta, Anthony (Institutional Partner) AU - Raagas, Quennie Dyan C. (External Expert) TI - Establishing health financial support to improve facility based delivery in the Municipality of Sarangani, Davao del Sur KW - Maternal health services KW - Neonatal intensive care KW - Community health services N1 - Graduate School of Public and Development Management N2 - Sarangani is a 4th class geographically isolated and disadvantage municipality in the Province of Davao del Sur. It is mainly made up of two islands, Balut carrying the eight barangays and Sarangani carrying the four barangays. These islands are bounded by big bodies of waters thus the mode of transportation is only through pumpboats, with only one barangay out of the 12 can be travelled through a motorcycle with no safe and decent road. The islands distance from the nearest main land, General Santos City, is to be a traversed for 8 hours or 43.84 nautical miles 92.30km via Lantsa or a motorized pumpboat. The municipality has no decent birthing facility to cater pregnant women thus home is the most common venue for delivery assisted by traditional birth assistants. Al though there are pregnant women who are willing to deliver in the facility, hey could not reach the facility because of the very expensive transportation expenses charged by the pumpboats, resulting to going back to home delivery leading to cases maternal and newborn mortalities. Despite intensive promotion of facility based delivery, increasing cases of home deliveries still persist. Thus the goal of this action plan and project which is to improve facility based delivery to all pregnant women in the Municipality of Sarangani with objectives to identify the factors that affect the low facility based delivery, to identify the strategies that can be done to improve the facility based delivery and lastly, to determine a measure to sustain the health financial support strategy to ensure improvement of facility based delivery. Baseline data were obtain through FGD, Board meetings, administration of guide questions, acquisition of consolidated health data from the health information system of the RHU and FBD related primary data from different offices of the LGU. SWOT analysis, stakeholders analysis and problem solution tree were also used. Health financing support was established through an agreement between the Municipal Health Office, Barangay Captains and the pumpboat operators. Barangay will initially finance the transportation expenses of pregnant women from their barangay of origin to the birthing facility. the amount spent by the barangay is reimbursed by the Municipal Health Office through MCP claims and reimbursement supported by an Ordinance. This is supported by other strategies to increase FBD such as accreditation to Philhealth, increasing Philhealth membership and awareness, installation of a decent birthing facility, capacitating health workers through trainings, intensification of IEC to pregnant women and creating of Local Ordinance for sustainability. The results showed an increase in facility based delivery from 12.90% in 2012 to 42.18% in 2015. Home deliveries decreased from 87% in 2012 to 58% in 2015 ER -