A new complaint, accompanied by photographs, reveals the presence of bedbugs at the José Ramón López Tabrane Teaching Gynecology and Obstetrics Hospital in Matanzas, where some pregnant women claim they prefer to sleep during the day to avoid nighttime bites.
"Many of them walk everywhere. They sting you," reported a complainant who shared with CiberCuba photographs of the insects in the facilities of the hospital, popularly known as the Materno de Matanzas.
According to her testimony, the center conducts weekly fumigations with permethrin, but the infestation persists. The complainant claims that the insects take refuge in the mattresses and reappear after each treatment
"When they spray, what they do is walk along the walls, and at night they are unbearable, to the point that pregnant women prefer to sleep during the day," he explained.
The situation has forced the relatives of the patients to try to eliminate the insects on their own, while the pregnant women keep their belongings in nylon bags to prevent the bedbugs from getting into them.
"It is outrageous that a pregnant woman about to give birth—and those who are not close to giving birth as well—cannot sleep or rest," lamented the woman, who called for the replacement of the infested mattresses and a permanent solution to the problem.
The complainant clarified that she does not hold the medical or nursing staff responsible, but rather those in charge of the maintenance and material conditions of the hospital.
"This is not a blockade, this is not politics. This is filth!" he expressed.
According to the complainant, the hospital also has issues with the elevators, which means that women who have just given birth, including patients who have undergone cesarean sections, must use the stairs
A problem reported months ago
In June 2026, a bedbug and cockroach infestation had already been reported in this same hospital, along with clogged bathrooms, lack of water, shortages of medical supplies, and elevator issues.
Reports have spread to other healthcare facilities in Cuba. On October 17, the case of an 85-year-old woman with lung cancer hospitalized in Camagüey was made known, whose family reported that she also couldn't sleep due to the insects.
For the complainant from Matanzas, it is particularly contradictory that Cuban authorities express concern about low birth rates while women face such conditions during pregnancy and childbirth.
"Women do not have even the basic conditions in a room to give birth peacefully, and this is how they expect the population to grow," she questioned.
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