04/15/2025
He walked to the birth center without shoes because he had sold everything trying to get his wife and baby out of hospital detention.
She had been sleeping on cardboard with her baby outside the maternity ward for over a month when MamaBaby Haiti paid her bills so she could be reunited with her husband.
These are the stories the women tell us when they have been held against their will in hospital detention, waiting for their family to raise the funds to pay their hospital bills so they will be free to go home.
In hospital detention, Moms are not provided with food and water. They often sleep outside or on a porch on cardboard boxes with their babies, guarded and unable to leave. When their family cannot raise the funds, they are held for months, and they can only hope their family will bring them food daily.
MamaBaby pays the medical bills of women and babies being held in hospital detention. We bring them to MamaBaby for a shower and food, and then we take them home to their family.
MamaBaby Haiti will always release women from hospital detention because it is a human rights violation to be held against your will, because you don’t have money to pay for your healthcare. We will continue to fight against this inhumane and unethical practice until it is discontinued. We offer free prenatal and birth care for people who cannot afford to pay for care. Together, we can give women access to safe care without detaining her and her baby until someone pays for her medical bills.
Every family deserves to grow in a place of safety, care, and compassion. At MamaBaby Haiti, we are dedicated to ensuring that mothers receive the support they need, from pregnancy to birth and beyond, so they can welcome their little ones with strength and joy.
