Hospital Conditions

Hospital Conditions

Hospitals in Honduras are a very different place than in the United States.

When pregnant patients first get to the hospital they must beg the security guard at the entrance to the hospital for admittance. Then just one member of the family can enter the hospital to be with the patient. Next, they talk to the doctor in the emergency room and the doctor just says, “Wait for your turn”. The only option for this patient is sitting down on the floor and waiting hours for medical attention. When a pregnant woman is in labor, they are often sent to a room about 10’ x 10’ with up to 10 women waiting to be admitted to have their babies. Once they have progressed over half way through labor, they finally get a room to have their baby. The rest of the laboring mothers must walk and walk to make their labor progress. If the doctors are busy or no room is available the woman can deliver her baby wherever she happens to be at the time the baby is in the final stages of labor and delivery. The health system in Honduras is in total collapse. Many newborns are dying every month in the hospitals of Honduras. Some of them are dying because of something unpreventable, but the majorities are dying because of negligence and uncaring doctors and nurses. Most women do not have prenatal care because it is unattainable or they do not understand the need. As for the medical negligence, there are several issues. Some of them are the lack of medicine, having to wait to get a room, and not having enough personnel for simple but unavoidable circumstances. One of the most common problems is the contaminated operating and recovery rooms for women and newborns. It does not matter the reason, the results are the same; rising rates of maternity and infant mortality. In Honduras the infant mortality rate is 24 deaths per 1000 births while it is 6.1 deaths per 1000 births in the United States. Please help us build the Women’s Clinic so we can provide compassionate, clean and safe environments for mothers and their babies.