The rapping at the door kept happening through the night and the women just kept coming one after another. By the time the night was over 12 babies were born in 12 hours.
This is not typical at MamaBaby Haiti. On an average night we have two, three, even five births, but not 12! This was a first and based on the current state of the world it probably won’t be the last. Things are extra hard in Haiti right now: food is more expensive and jobs are more scarce.
People know we are open. They know they don’t have to worry about being trapped inside our walls due to not having the money to pay for care. They know we provide safe and free care at MamaBaby Haiti.
Thank you to all the donors that make this possible.
Recently MamaBaby Haiti was featured on the White Ribbon Alliance podcast called Brave Voices. In this episode 7 they discuss an issue we see in Haiti and around the globe known to many as hospital detention. This is when hospitals keep women and often their new born babies locked behind the gates due to their inability to pay. This practice is illegal around the world. In this episode you will hear from a women named Marie who spent 2 months locked behind the hospital gates and you will hear how MamaBaby Haiti came and paid her bill so that she could return home to her family.
Episode 07
Motherhood in Chains: Detention and Other Violations of Liberty
https://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/2020/09/23/episode-07/
You can also read their blog post “When Hospitals Become Prisons: Marie”
https://medium.com/@WRAglobal/when-hospitals-become-prisons-marie-6c5024628e81
Respectful Maternity Care Charter: The Universal Rights of Women and Newborns
Article 7 of the Respectful Maternity Care Charter: 7.
Everyone has the right to liberty, autonomy, self-determination and freedom from arbitrary detention.
No one is allowed to detain you or your newborn in a healthcare facility, even if you cannot pay for services received.
Legal authority
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, Article 1
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Article 1, 9.1, 18.1
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990, Article 37
International Labor Organization, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989
To learn more about the White Ribbon Alliance go to whiteribbonalliance.org
Jennifer and Patricia, two of the founders of MamaBaby Haiti, will be going to Haiti next month to work with the team there. If you want to see posts from their trip, check out MamaBaby Haiti on Facebook and Instagram. We will share daily stories from Haiti and the birth center.