A pregnant woman at term claims to have spent the night resting on aluminum chairs at the Hospital Materno de Camagüey because there were no beds available to attend to her, according to a report released this Monday by independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada.
"I am at the end of my pregnancy. I arrived here at 2:00 in the morning and had to spend the night in the aluminum chairs that are available. But I wasn't alone; there were more of us because there were no beds," reported the patient, whose identity was not disclosed.
Tan Estrada supported his testimony with photographs showing a waiting room with institutional metal seating, where several people are seen lying down, some on their sides with their legs bent, covered with blankets or clothing, in visibly precarious conditions. The journalist also noted the presence of newborns in the hallways of the center.
The complaint is not an isolated incident. Just days prior, Tan Estrada had shared a video showing a newborn lying on blankets in an old chair inside the delivery room of the same hospital.
Throughout 2026, the Provincial University Gynecological and Obstetric Hospital Ana Betancourt de Mora —the official name of the facility— has been the focus of a series of documented complaints. In April, it was reported that pregnant women in Ward A were waiting to give birth in the hallways on deteriorated mattresses, without privacy or proper ventilation. In May, an image showed electric motorcycles parked inside the perinatal care room. That same month, Tan Estrada reported the death of more than 15 newborns amid reports of sewage leaks and a shortage of medications, a figure derived from public complaints and not corroborated by any official report.
In June, a mother shared the story of her newborn daughter's death after four days of severe complications, which included bleeding and cardiac arrests.
In light of the new complaint, Tan Estrada directly challenged the authorities of the center: "Now come and issue another statement, Maternal Hospital of Camagüey. Are you also going to deny what the patients experience inside that institution?"
The reaction on social media was mostly one of indignation. "Where has the priority of the Cuban healthcare system and the protection of mothers gone?" asked one user. Another pointed directly to the Maternal and Child Care Program: "And what does PAMI say about this?" A dissenting voice argued that "regardless of the country's situation, these cases are priorities."
The situation is framed within a national health crisis: Cuba ended 2025 with an infant mortality rate of 9.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 4.0 in 2018, an increase of approximately 148%. Maternal mortality rose from 40.6 to 44.1 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2024 and 2025. The Pan American Health Organization warned in July 2026 that over 33,000 pregnant women had limited access to ultrasounds and fetal monitoring due to equipment failures and outages lasting up to 48 consecutive hours.
As of the publication of this news, neither the Maternity Hospital of Camagüey, nor the Provincial Health Directorate, nor the Ministry of Public Health has issued any statement in response to this new allegation.
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