The Dominican Republic is being commended, along with Rwanda, Afghanistan and Cambodia, as one of the nations that has significantly reduced maternal mortality rates. The United States Congress will present the awards later this month according to El Dia newspaper. Public Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez says that the maternal death rate in 2004 was 159 per 100,000 live births and in 2011 this number was reduced to 109.4, a significant drop of 21.8%.
The DR’s maternal death rate also reflects the large number of Haitian women that cross the border to give birth at Dominican public hospitals, many without having received any prenatal care.
In a related story, the newspaper reports that nearly 20% of maternal deaths occur in adolescents. According to a 2011study, 19% of maternal deaths involve young women between 15 and 19 years of age. The health risks for a 15-year old are twice as high as a woman between the ages of 20 and 30. The article goes on to report that of the adolescent births 28% were by C-section and a total of 5,533 teenagers had miscarriages.