NewsWhore
08-30-2010, 06:30 PM
In Los Mina's San Lorenzo Maternity Hospital, about 1,700 babies are born to Haitian mothers each year, an average of 4 babies a day, according to figures released by the hospital. The director of the maternity hospital, Gregorio Rivas told Diario Libre that so far this year they have had 629 deliveries, 379 C-sections, 5,167 consultations and 1,185 hospitalizations. During this same period they treated 1,925 Haitians in the ER and 3,223 consulted about birth control. A total of five patients have died from pregnancy related causes.
In 2009 the hospital recorded the births of 1,695 Haitian babies, but the director estimates that the figure will be higher this year, since the number of women giving birth has increased since the 12 January earthquake.
The hospital serves a population of more than 34,800 women, between pregnant women and other specialties, and the number of births and C-sections is more than 20,000. In 2009, of 15 maternal deaths, four were Haitian mothers. That year 1,840 Haitian women were treated in the ER, 3,400 received consultations, 1,121 births and 448 C-sections.
The total number of patients seen last year was 33,884.
Most of the Haitians arrive at the hospital in labor, without previous pre-natal examinations, in very advanced stages of pregnancy, with anemia, hypertension and untreated severe endocrinology processes. The consequence, according to the director, is an increase in the hospital's maternal mortality rate and this is reflected in the seven deaths that were registered in the first semester of the year, putting a stain on the hospital's statistics, because the national epidemiological system calculates these fatalities as patients of the institution.
Many of the pregnant women live in areas close to the hospital, and others come directly (from Haiti) to the country, with the added difficulty of not speaking Spanish. This makes communication between the women and the health personnel who are dealing with them difficult.
An important piece of information from the authorities is the fact that the Haitian mothers giving birth here are consuming approximately RD$18,320,000 of the hospital's budget, which is about RD$70 million between the state subsidy and the other income that the maternity unit receives.
The hospital on average every day treats 1,200 patients, but there are barely 241 beds, which are divided into: 109 in the area of obstetrics, 64 for pediatrics and the rest for intensive care and other areas of internment. This leads to overcrowding with as many as three patients using the same bed, and the same situation can be found in the outpatient area, emergency room, delivery room, surgery and postpartum areas.
These conditions could improve with the completion of the annex that has been under construction for 14 years, because the money is delivered when the situation becomes public knowledge through the media and is never enough. In this area there are spaces for the intensive care unit and complete equipment for maternity cases. The last disbursement that was given to the people in charge of the construction was RD$20 million last June and apparently this was used mainly to pay off debts with suppliers.
The maternity hospital director estimates the resources that are needed to finish the physical plant and the equipment at around RD$70 million.
The construction is the responsibility of the Supervisor's Office of State Public Works, but they have not finished designating the funds, which in 2006 were about RD$20 million, to finish the infrastructure. The maternity hospital was built in 1974 and designed for a population of 300,000, which explains today's overcrowded situation.
Rivas points out that besides treating patients from eastern Santo Domingo, people from other areas of the country, especially from the east and south, also come in. The maternity hospital has residence programs in pediatrics and gynecology and obstetrics and 200 beds are available, an average of 55 deliveries a day and an average of 500 patient consultations a day, including emergencies.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
In 2009 the hospital recorded the births of 1,695 Haitian babies, but the director estimates that the figure will be higher this year, since the number of women giving birth has increased since the 12 January earthquake.
The hospital serves a population of more than 34,800 women, between pregnant women and other specialties, and the number of births and C-sections is more than 20,000. In 2009, of 15 maternal deaths, four were Haitian mothers. That year 1,840 Haitian women were treated in the ER, 3,400 received consultations, 1,121 births and 448 C-sections.
The total number of patients seen last year was 33,884.
Most of the Haitians arrive at the hospital in labor, without previous pre-natal examinations, in very advanced stages of pregnancy, with anemia, hypertension and untreated severe endocrinology processes. The consequence, according to the director, is an increase in the hospital's maternal mortality rate and this is reflected in the seven deaths that were registered in the first semester of the year, putting a stain on the hospital's statistics, because the national epidemiological system calculates these fatalities as patients of the institution.
Many of the pregnant women live in areas close to the hospital, and others come directly (from Haiti) to the country, with the added difficulty of not speaking Spanish. This makes communication between the women and the health personnel who are dealing with them difficult.
An important piece of information from the authorities is the fact that the Haitian mothers giving birth here are consuming approximately RD$18,320,000 of the hospital's budget, which is about RD$70 million between the state subsidy and the other income that the maternity unit receives.
The hospital on average every day treats 1,200 patients, but there are barely 241 beds, which are divided into: 109 in the area of obstetrics, 64 for pediatrics and the rest for intensive care and other areas of internment. This leads to overcrowding with as many as three patients using the same bed, and the same situation can be found in the outpatient area, emergency room, delivery room, surgery and postpartum areas.
These conditions could improve with the completion of the annex that has been under construction for 14 years, because the money is delivered when the situation becomes public knowledge through the media and is never enough. In this area there are spaces for the intensive care unit and complete equipment for maternity cases. The last disbursement that was given to the people in charge of the construction was RD$20 million last June and apparently this was used mainly to pay off debts with suppliers.
The maternity hospital director estimates the resources that are needed to finish the physical plant and the equipment at around RD$70 million.
The construction is the responsibility of the Supervisor's Office of State Public Works, but they have not finished designating the funds, which in 2006 were about RD$20 million, to finish the infrastructure. The maternity hospital was built in 1974 and designed for a population of 300,000, which explains today's overcrowded situation.
Rivas points out that besides treating patients from eastern Santo Domingo, people from other areas of the country, especially from the east and south, also come in. The maternity hospital has residence programs in pediatrics and gynecology and obstetrics and 200 beds are available, an average of 55 deliveries a day and an average of 500 patient consultations a day, including emergencies.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)