Victor Calderon, the director of the La Altagracia Maternity Hospital, the largest in Santo Domingo, said that every year around 4,000 Haitian women give birth at the center. He said this costs the hospital around RD$120 million. He made the statements during an interview with a Chamber of Deputies public health commission. “We estimate that around 16% of the births at the hospital are to Haitian nationals. That is a lot, but we have an open door policy for all who need medical care, regardless of nationality,” he said. He said that of the total around a fifth are teenage mothers. He said the hospital treats complicated cases that are referred from hospitals all around the country. He said that the medical staff does a superhuman job in dealing with these cases and they have only had 12 maternal deaths so far this year, with around 13,000 births and almost 4,000 referrals. He said that the country’s teenage pregnancy rate has reached epidemic proportions. He said that only 29% of teenagers use some form of contraception and are exposed to many sexually transmitted diseases. He advocated for more education and for the country to enforce the law more stringently when it comes to adults who have sex with girls. He said that when a child gives birth to a child there is no way of breaking the cycle of poverty. The director of the maternity hospital also mentioned that the 13-year old girl from San Jose de Ocoa who is pregnant with triplets by a 60-year old man wants to go home. The hospital is advising her to stay there for the last three months of her pregnancy so that she eats well and they can have better control of her health and that of the unborn babies.
www.elcaribe.com.do/2013/10/01/cuatro-mil-haitianas-paren-maternidad