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Babies Are Marissa’s Special Joy
There’s a distinct air of babies about Dr Marissa
Regino-Manamban’s Community and Family Medical Clinic at 262
Street 63.
Brightly colored mats are spread out on the floor for the littlest
patients to roll around on. A collection of toys with bells and
whistles and other pint-size pleasures occupy almost half the
waiting room.
Dr Marissa, as she is known to her patients, is a general
practitioner who has has specialized in pediatrics.
She graduated from the University of the East and Ramon Magsaysay
Memorial Medical Center in Manila, Philippines, in 1989 and worked
at that hospital for five years after graduation.
She came to Cambodia in 1995 and opened CFMC the following year.
Apart from fluent babytalk, the doctor speaks Pilipino, English and
some Khmer. Her fees are $30 for a first consultation for expats and
$15 for Cambodians, with lower fees for follow-up visits.
Mostly, Dr Marissa sends her expectant moms to Bangkok for their
deliveries, but cares for them during the pregnancy and for the
mother and baby afterwards.
However, some of her patients have decided to give birth at a local
hospital and occasionally, a patient will choose to have a
midwife-attended birth in Cambodia with an expat practitioner.
Dr Marissa can’t be reached for a while, though. She enjoys taking
care of other people’s babies so much, she has decided to take
care of one of her own, too.
The doctor and the doctor’s brand-new baby will be returning from
the Philippines in August, and then the collection of toys on the
mats in the waiting room will really get a workout.
—Elizabeth Wright
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