A report published on Facebook raised concerns about a severe infestation of bedbugs at the José Ramón López Tabrane Teaching Gynecoobstetric Hospital, popularly known as the Maternal Hospital of Matanzas, where pregnant women and newborns are exposed to extremely unsanitary conditions.
The author of the message, Yobel Vega, described the situation with irony: "If bedbugs produced electricity, the current Maternity Hospital of Matanzas would be one of the most efficient power plants."
He added that the insects "almost lift pregnant women by weight" and demanded that provincial leaders address these "minor issues."
The publication sparked an avalanche of testimonies from citizens who corroborated the conditions of the center.
Yanisleidys Bacallao recounted giving birth there five months ago: “The air was foul, cockroaches were crawling over the beds. I had to shout at the stretcher bearer to get one off my foot because I couldn’t move it due to the anesthesia. The bathrooms were clogged, there was no water, the elevator has been broken for years, and there was neither cotton nor gauge. It poses an infection risk for newborns and mothers.”
Marlen Vázquez added another testimony: "That hospital has always been a tremendous mess. When my daughter was admitted, the mice ate her breakfast cookies and there were thousands of cockroaches crawling on the nightstands."
Yisel Enseñat, a healthcare worker, warned that the problem is not limited to that center: "Just like here in the hospital where I work and in all the hospitals in the province."
Aleida García Castellanos confirmed that the infestation has overwhelmed the walls of the hospital: "In Matanzas, there is a severe bedbug infestation, not only in homes but also in hospitals, with the authorities doing nothing."
The decline of the maternity ward in Matanzas is not recent. Yanelys Ortiz Hernández noted that "this issue, along with the elevator problem, has been unresolved for years," and Julia E. Page Dávila pointed out that "the four corners of the hospital have garbage bins, in addition to the one for the hospital itself."
In August 2025, reports had already been made of accumulated garbage for almost a month, cockroaches, stagnant urine, and dirty utensils in that same center.
The bedbug infestation has spread across multiple Cuban provinces in the past two years.
In July 2025, an infestation was documented at the Gustavo Machín Psychiatric Hospital in Santiago de Cuba; in August of that year, infested mattresses were found at the Lenin Hospital in Holguín; and this month, a Cuban mother had to burn her belongings to eliminate the insects. In none of these cases has there been an official response from the Ministry of Public Health.
In April 2026, the province of Matanzas itself issued a health alert for hepatitis A directly linked to the accumulation of garbage and the proliferation of vectors such as rats, cockroaches, and flies, illustrating the health crisis in which this new complaint arises.
Isela Reyes Aguilar summarized the seriousness of the issue: "Many laugh, but they don’t realize how dangerous a bedbug bite is. Authorities should take this seriously, especially in a place where children are born."
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