In the newborn registry of the "Doña Renée Klang de Guzmán" maternity hospital (Santiago de los Caballeros) 567 children were born in January 2022: 299 (52.7%) from Dominican mothers and 268 (47.3%) from Haitian mothers, despite government restrictions on pregnant Haitians.

Dr. Miguel Ortega, owner of the clinic who provided this information, acknowledged that Haitian births had increased, pointing out that many women come illegally from Haiti and others live in Dominican territory.

He also explained that these Haitian births cost the clinic more than 8 million pesos per month generating a growing deficit... adding that 26 maternal deaths were recorded in January, almost all of Haitian origin.

In this regard, Gilberto Tejada, President of the Dominican Medical College of Santiago, acknowledged that there was an increase in maternal deaths of Haitians in maternity wards, mainly in this province. He explained that this was due to the fact that the majority of pregnant Haitian women arrive at Dominican centers in poor health and sometimes in critical condition. Tejada added that these women coming from Haiti are not followed in terms of health, are poorly prepared suffer from anemia and other problems that are linked to the death of Haitian women in labor due to their state of health.

Likewise, he noted that in the Doña Renée Klang de Guzmán maternity hospital, in addition to childbirth, more Haitians are treated there than Dominicans.

SL/ iciHaiti