The director of the Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, the largest in the country, announced yesterday, Sunday 24 March that they have met their target of one hundred days (100) without an institutional maternal death. Speaking to reporters from El Nuevo Diario, Dr. Victor Calderon said that this was the most important achievement of his tenure. He said that so far during this year the hospital has seen three deaths: two patients who were already close to death when admitted and one who had received no prenatal care whatsoever. All three died within 24 hours of arrival and all were foreigners. Calderon said that for the first time in its 63 years of existence, the Maternity Hospital is performing surgery on newborns with congenital defects, which has allowed them to save the lives of nearly a dozen babies. He said that for the first time the hospital is using doulas (a non-medical person who accompanies the mother before, during and after birth) in order to humanize the birth, continue reducing maternal death rates and increase breastfeeding.