The secretary of the Dominican Society of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr. César López, acknowledges that it is difficult to prevent Haitian nationals from entering the Dominican Republic to give birth.
He says public health statistics indicate that only one of out of three births in the border region of this country was from a Dominican woman. In Greater Santo Domingo, 40% of all births in the DR are to Haitian women. Dr. López says these are usually undernourished women that do not have access to prenatal care in their country and only see a doctor when ready to give birth. As a result, these women add considerably to the maternal mortality rate in the country. He said there is a high prevalence of AIDS, syphilis and tuberculosis and other complications among these patients.
The remarks were made by Dr. López when interviewed by Julio Martínez Pozo on Toque Final on Channel 7. He advocated controlling Haitian birthing tourism. He said the costly health complications eat up the budget available for normal health services at the public hospitals. “We are expending resources to stabilize a complicated patient in the intensive care unit so she does not die,” he said.
He made the comments in regards to recent statistics from Women’s Link Worldwide that place the Dominican Republic in the fourth place of maternal mortality in Latin America, only surpassed by Haiti and Bolivia.
Dr. López also was critical of the Medina administration’s decision to remodel 56 public hospitals all at once, which has created difficult working conditions for the physicians.
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El Nuevo Diario
15 August 2017
