Pregnant women admitted to the Materno Sur Hospital in Santiago de Cuba—known as the Clinic of the Angels—reported that their meals consist of only about four tablespoons of white rice and a minimal portion of peas.
The patients photographed their own trays to document what they receive and sent the images to the communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
Breakfast, according to testimonies, arrives late and consists of a piece of bread, cold milk, or a small portion of fongo. There are no snacks or protein-rich foods.
The most vulnerable are the women who arrive from rural areas of the province without close family members who can bring them food. For them, hospitalization means relying almost entirely on what the facility provides.
Mayeta Labrada demanded a public explanation on Facebook: "We request the management of the Materno Sur Hospital and the provincial health authorities to explain what kind of nutrition is currently provided to hospitalized pregnant women." As of this Tuesday, neither the hospital's management nor the Ministry of Public Health had responded.
In another more recent post, the reporter shared the complaint of a pregnant woman admitted to the Juan Bruno Zayas Clinical Surgical Hospital in the same province.
"Look at the food we're being served," the woman expressed, accompanying her message with a photo of a plate containing a small portion of rice, a few slices of cucumber, and some pieces of root vegetables, without any protein.
"How can a healthy diet be guaranteed for a pregnant woman when hospital meals have such limitations?" Mayeta questioned.
The issue of nutrition for pregnant women is a national matter. The regime itself admitted in June that 25.2% of registered pregnant women in Ciego de Ávila presented some nutritional deficiency, while the national average of pregnant women with malnutrition is 22.5%; Santiago de Cuba was among the provinces with the worst indicators in the country.
The situation did not begin this year. In July 2024, a pregnant woman from Santiago de Cuba who was admitted to the Materno Sur Hospital reported that she was served food with worms.
The young woman sent Yosmany Mayeta photos of the food tray: a little rice, a piece of sweet potato, and minced meat, in which there was a worm. Fortunately, the patient noticed its presence in time.
In April of that year, another pregnant woman admitted to the same institution described the food they were providing her as "pig food".
"Nobody is willing to get involved with that," the girl wrote, whose mother-in-law brought her food daily. "And so, there are women who have no other option and [have to] eat this same thing because they live outside the municipality," she mourned.
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