High figures of maternal mortality in Dominican Republic reported

Santo Domingo, Jul 4 (Prensa Latina) The Dominican Republic reported high maternal mortality figures in 2021: only in the first quarter it had 48 percent more than in the same period of last year, the press reported.

July 4, 2021
09:45

According to Diario Libre, 43 mothers died from January to March, while 29 were reported in the first three months of 2020.

The director of the Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health of the National Health Care Service (SNS), Martín Ortiz, told the diary that the figures move the country away from the goal of reducing the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 cases per 100,000 live births, proposed in the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Ortiz pointed out that Covid-19 is an indirect cause of maternal deaths, as many women decreased prenatal consultations for fear of contagion, and the reduction in the number of consultations had an indirect influence.

However, Ortiz specified that the main causes of deaths are high blood pressure, bleeding and infections.

The official pointed out that in order to counteract this situation, the SNS requested more attention to second-level hospitals, in order to lower the burden of patients in third-level hospitals, since ‘the first tool to achieve an adequate pregnancy is a good prenatal checkup.’

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