Pregnant women in Port-au-Prince struggle to access essential medical care as gang violence and infrastructure collapse force clinics to close.
Key facts
- •Gang control in Bel Air has resulted in the loss of electricity and the closure of schools since 2019.
- •A 45-year-old pregnant woman, Françoise, requires a caesarean section to mitigate risks associated with a condition that could lead to eclampsia.
- •A clinic in Cité Soleil was forced to close in May due to gang violence.
- •More than half of Haiti's population currently faces high levels of food insecurity.
- •MSF staff were recently trapped for hours during heavy fighting in Port-au-Prince, leading to a temporary halt in maternal health services.
In the gang-controlled neighborhood of Bel Air, Port-au-Prince, pregnant women are accessing maternity services at a temporary clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The facility operates in a former school, relying on battery-powered lamps and sandbagged windows to protect patients from frequent gunfire. The city's healthcare system has been severely compromised by ongoing violence and the closure of numerous medical facilities.
By the numbers
Impact of violence on maternal health
The maternal mortality rate in hospitals has risen from 250 to 350 per 100,000 live births between February 2022 and April 2025, according to MSF. An estimated 60% of births in Port-au-Prince now occur without professional medical care, often taking place in homes, camps, or on the streets. Untreated complications such as hypertension, infections, and hemorrhages remain the primary drivers of these deaths.
Humanitarian and funding challenges
Human Rights Watch reports that the suspension of USAID funding in 2025 left approximately 750,000 women and girls in Haiti without access to healthcare. Beyond medical shortages, more than 6 million people in the country require urgent humanitarian assistance, and about 1.4 million have been internally displaced since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Instability in Port-au-Prince
The security situation remains volatile, with recent clashes in Bel Air resulting in dozens of deaths, including 10 children. MSF recently reported that heavy fighting forced the suspension of services at their facilities, with staff members trapped inside buildings and one former volunteer killed during an evacuation attempt.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by The Guardian Global Development.
