NewsWhore
12-20-2011, 02:50 PM
Doctor Luis Rivera Mejia told the press that the infant mortality rate for the Dominican Republic, at 32 per 1000 live births, is an embarrassment for the state-run hospitals and other health institutions. Rivera Mejia, the chief of the Perinatology (maternal-fetal specialists) at the Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, the nation's largest maternity facility, told Listin Diario reporter Katheryn Luna that the fact that 24 of the 32 fatalities are newborn and that 70% occur within the first seven days is truly an embarrassment.
The doctor addressed the fact that while maternity deaths have been reduced thanks to better obstetric care, it is also true that neonatal and prenatal deaths have not been reduced sufficiently. He said while the obstetricians can contribute significantly to preventing neonatal deaths, the reduction has not been as dramatic compared to neonatal and prenatal deaths under the care of the neonatologists and the perinatologists at the Maternidad La Altagracia. He showed how the mortality of newborns at the maternity hospital is 12 per 1000 live births and that during November this figure was down to 9 per thousand. Dr. Rivera Mejia said that there was a major need for specialists in these fields.
It has also been pointed out that the maternal mortality rate statistics are affected by the thousands of Haitians who go to emergency rooms at Dominican public hospitals to give birth without having received any prenatal care.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
The doctor addressed the fact that while maternity deaths have been reduced thanks to better obstetric care, it is also true that neonatal and prenatal deaths have not been reduced sufficiently. He said while the obstetricians can contribute significantly to preventing neonatal deaths, the reduction has not been as dramatic compared to neonatal and prenatal deaths under the care of the neonatologists and the perinatologists at the Maternidad La Altagracia. He showed how the mortality of newborns at the maternity hospital is 12 per 1000 live births and that during November this figure was down to 9 per thousand. Dr. Rivera Mejia said that there was a major need for specialists in these fields.
It has also been pointed out that the maternal mortality rate statistics are affected by the thousands of Haitians who go to emergency rooms at Dominican public hospitals to give birth without having received any prenatal care.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)