5 Facts About Maternal Healthcare in Haiti

Maternal health statistics are devastating in Haiti. However, thanks to remarkable supporters of LiveBeyond, we are making a tremendous impact on the lives of mothers, infants, and children in Thomazeau. Our 2022 Mother’s Day Campaign was a success. We are excited to further combat these maternal health disparities by providing quality maternal healthcare. 

Over 25% of Haitian women give birth at home unattended.

The World Bank reports that more than 1 in 4 births in Haiti occur at home. While some Haitian women may seek medical attention during childbirth, many new mothers deliver at home unattended. This is a serious problem for several reasons:

-Without proper care and information, women are at significantly higher rates to die during childbirth than their counterparts who receive quality healthcare services.

-Unattended births can lead to complications that would have been preventable with professional assistance. In fact, those who give birth without trained help are twice as likely to experience postpartum bleeding and infection than those who seek care from a medical professional nearby or travel long distances for treatment.

-A lack of healthcare infrastructure means many women cannot quickly access emergency care when it’s needed most; due to delays caused by distance or transportation issues alone, high rates of maternal deaths occur within 24 hours after delivery when early intervention could save lives!

Maternal mortality rate is approximately 10 times the rate in the United States.

Maternal mortality is a serious issue in Haiti. The maternal mortality rate (the number of women dying from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth) is approximately 10 times higher than the rate in the United States. This figure puts Haiti’s health care system at a disadvantage compared with other Caribbean countries, which have rates that are 50 percent lower than that of Haiti. Further, it makes Haiti’s health care comparable to those found in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the poorest regions on earth.

For every 1,000 people, there are only 0.2 physicians in Haiti.

Based on the World Bank data there are very few doctors per person in Haiti. This means that many women must travel long distances to see a medical professional. Even then, it’s likely she won’t have access to the care she needs. It has been determined by the World Health Organization that 2.5 medical staff per 1,000 people are needed to provide adequate primary care intervention (WHO, World Health Report 2006). 

Nearly half of births are unplanned.

In Haiti, as in many other countries, births are generally unplanned. This means that women might not know they’re pregnant until it’s too late to get adequate healthcare. This leads to women not receiving prenatal care in the first trimester and many don’t receive prenatal care at all. In rural areas, women have even less access to quality maternal healthcare. This means even fewer receive the care they desperately need.  

There are numerous barriers to healthcare before, during and after birth in Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. There are numerous barriers to healthcare before, during, and after birth in Haiti. A lack of healthcare infrastructure means that many women have to travel far distances to access medical care. This can be expensive and difficult to navigate.

Poor transportation infrastructure also means that it’s difficult for people who don’t have money for taxis to get around, making getting regular checkups a challenge. Additionally, there’s a high poverty rate among Haitians. This makes it hard for families to afford basic health services like immunizations.

Women often give birth at home because they cannot afford hospital fees or because they are afraid of people sending them home for not having an identification card. The high birth rate leads many women in Haiti not only into motherhood but also into poverty once again when their children start having families of their own at young ages. Because there aren’t enough resources within Haiti itself, most government funding goes towards infrastructure projects outside of healthcare instead—leaving little room for improvement within this sector itself.

 

This is why LiveBeyond focuses so much on providing free medical resources. It is also equally important to provide quality maternal healthcare to the women and children in Thomazeau, Haiti. Thank you for supporting the Mother’s Day campaign! Because of your support we can continue to provide excellent care for the mothers & babies in the maternal health program.