
Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has been plagued by pervasive gang violence since the start of the year.
The UN projects that more than 500,000 people have been internally displaced nationwide as a result of the transformation of urban areas into battlegrounds.
Pregnancy was already dangerous prior to the recent spike in violence. The western hemisphere’s highest rate of maternal death is found in Haiti.
An astounding 950 women lose their lives to complications during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period each year. Today, childbirth is significantly riskier due to inadequate access to healthcare for mothers.
There is a lack of medication, many hospitals are closed, and over 40% of Haiti’s medical workforce has fled the nation.
Prenatal care, reproductive healthcare, and mental health treatments are among the relatively few essential health services that are widely accessible.
Jolanda Dimanche, a mother who was internally displaced, believes she was fortunate to receive assistance in a capital hospital.
“This is my first child. He is two days old. I went into the delivery room at 6am. The doctor did everything possible to help me,” she says.
She was able to have a caesarean section, and her baby was born healthy even though the birth did not go as expected.
Hunger has increased as a result of the violence, endangering the lives of nursing and pregnant mothers as well as their unborn children.
Approximately half of the population, or five million people, suffer from severe hunger.
An internally displaced mother named Mariline Azard says it’s really stressful and hard to acquire enough food.
“But we’re holding on. I am six months pregnant and needed to go to the hospital. Fortunately, we were given medicine there. This support is crucial for our health.”
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is providing vital reproductive health services and assistance to communities in collaboration with partners.
The hospitals and medical facilities in Port-au-Prince and other regions of the nation that are still open have received vital supplies and equipment for the clinical management of rape and emergency obstetric care.
Mobile health teams are still making their way to displacement sites to offer reproductive health treatments to women and girls as well as supplies for infants and basic hygiene.
UNFPA’s $28 million appeal is only partially financed, despite skyrocketing demand. It states that there is an urgent need for more, quick, and flexible funding as well as ongoing, unhindered humanitarian access to every part of the nation. (Africanews)
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