Ultrasound scans are pictured near a woman during a pre-natal check at the government run Dr. Jose Fabella...
Ultrasound scans are pictured near a woman during a pre-natal check at the government run Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila June 6, 2011. The maternity ward, the busiest in the country, sees an average of 60 births a day. The Philippines' population growth rate of around 2.0 percent is above Southeast Asia's average of around 1.7 percent, with an estimated 200 babies born every hour. Lack of a national policy on birth control and access to modern family planning methods -- frowned upon by the powerful Catholic church -- are some of the factors that have led to the country's population ballooning to nearly 100 million, according to various government and private sector estimates, with the Philippines the second most populous nation in the region after Indonesia. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES - Tags: SOCIETY HEALTH)