Infant mortality in Cuba skyrocketed by 147% in seven years: delayed C-sections, babies without oxygen, and hospitals with sewage backups

A pregnant woman sits on a bed inside a hospital in Cuba amid the power outages affecting the healthcare network. (Illustrative image Infobae) Cuba closed 2025 with an infant mortality rate of 9.9 deaths of children under one year old per 1,000 live births, while mothers and relatives reported delays in cesarean sections, shortages of medications, and poor conditions in hospitals. The deterioration of the Maternal and Child Care Program coincides with fewer births and an international intervention aimed at strengthening obstetric and neonatal services, according to Diario de Cuba. The 68,051 live births preliminarily reported by the Ministry of Public Health represented 3,108 fewer than in 2024. Applied to that total, the infant rate is equivalent to about 674 deaths of babies under one year old, an estimate derived from both indicators and not an official death toll released separately. The situation contrasts with the records of 2017 and 2018, when the indicator stood at four deaths per 1,000 live births. The jump from 2018 was 147.5%. The Pan American Health Organization acknowledged in April 2026 the deteriorating trend of Cuban indicators, although it maintained that the country continued to post results above regional averages. The preliminary Cuban rate exceeded that of Chile, at 5.9 per 1,000 that year; Argentina had recorded 8.5 in 2024, and Costa Rica reported 8.56 between November 2024 and October 2025. More than 24 hours of labor preceded the birth of Dania's daughter, a resident of Nuevitas whose identity was changed at her request. The baby was born at the Maternity Hospital of Camagüey with low weight and very low oxygen and glucose levels, and spent several days in an incubator. Three women, including two pregnant, collect water in buckets inside the corridor of a hospital in Cuba. (Illustrative image Infobae) The mother said the intervention came too late: "The girl was born blue, she wasn't breathing, I thought she was going to die." She also attributed the complications to the delay in performing a cesarean section: "All for the same reason, because of a late decision, the team didn't want to do the cesarean, and they had to do it at the last moment." Dania's daughter survived, but Alina's son, another name used to protect the interviewee's identity, died before the operation was performed. The woman was admitted on a Saturday afternoon with low amniotic fluid and said specialists did not attend to her until Monday. "To sum up a story that continues to torment me, they performed the cesarean when the baby had already died," Alina recounted. After years of trying to get pregnant, she described the loss as a blow to her entire family: "He was the most wanted and awaited child." The relatives' complaints included other cases in Camagüey. In September 2025, Leydys Marian Guerrero González reported that her daughter died after staff at the Ana Betancourt Gynecological-Obstetric Hospital delayed care due to low amniotic fluid and performed the cesarean when the baby had already died. Independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada publicized that case on social media. A month earlier, Lianet Barranco had questioned the medical response after the death of her daughter, following warning symptoms during pregnancy. A pregnant woman in a floral dress walks along a cobblestone street flanked by colonial buildings and a classic car in Cuba. (Illustrative image Infobae) Camila Leyva Obregón, a resident of Bayamo, recounted in January 2025 that she spent hours losing amniotic fluid before receiving care for the delivery. Her baby developed complications and died 11 days after birth. Another neonatal death was reported on October 12, 2026 at the Maternity Hospital of Camagüey, according to sources consulted by Tan Estrada. The labor induction lasted more than 24 hours and the newborn suffered bronchoaspiration of meconium-stained amniotic fluid, pulmonary hypertension, and multi-organ failure. The journalist also reported more than 15 deaths of newborns at that hospital between January and May 2026. He also pointed to sewage leaks from a bathroom on the upper floor into areas near the babies, the presence of insects, and a lack of medications to fight infections. On April 29 of that year, Tan Estrada reported that pregnant women waited to give birth in the corridors of Ward A, amid overcrowding, heat, and poor hygiene. The families' complaints do not by themselves establish the existence of medical negligence, but they expose questions about delays, the handling of warning symptoms, and the explanations received. The infant mortality rate showed contrasts within the country: Havana recorded 14.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025 and Camagüey 12.4, according to demographic indicators from the National Office of Statistics and Information. Pinar del Río reported 4.7. The availability of essential treatments was also questioned by families of newborns. Beba Cabrera reported that her granddaughter, born on September 28, 2025 at the Hijas de Galicia Hospital in Havana, died after a severe hemorrhage. Doctors diagnosed a vitamin K deficiency, necessary for blood clotting, as explained by Dr. Lucio Enriquez Nodarse. The family maintained that the hospital did not have the medication administered to babies to prevent such hemorrhages. Two pregnant women talk on the porch of a house facing a street with colonial buildings and classic cars in Cuba. (Illustrative image Infobae) The girl received transfusions and mechanical ventilation, but died on October 1. Her relatives also stated that after the delivery, staff asked them for 5,000 pesos to guarantee a bed for the mother. The deaths also affected pregnant women. Maternal mortality rose from 40.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024 to 44.1 in 2025, an increase of approximately 8.6%, according to the Ministry of Public Health. The absolute difference was one additional maternal death. Although the reduction in births affects the calculation of the rate, the number of women who died increased in a year with fewer live births. In February 2022, the relatives of Yanelis Medina Cardoza, 30 years old and in an advanced stage of pregnancy, reported irregularities in the care she received in Havana. According to their testimony, she lost the baby after an emergency cesarean and then she also died. Laura Castillo Zulueta died in May 2024, at 29 years old and 25 weeks pregnant. Her mother, Janet Zulueta Curbelo, reported alleged negligence at the Hijas de Galicia Hospital before the young woman was transferred to the National Hospital. The hospital's management rejected the accusations and maintained that the complications were related to a pre-existing condition, Hirschsprung's disease. It also gave a different account of the circumstances of the transfer and released clinical information about Laura to respond to the family, a decision that raised questions about the privacy of the patient's data. Daniela Aurora Ochoa Hernández, 22 years old, died along with her baby in December 2025 at the Roberto Rodríguez Hospital in Morón, in Ciego de Ávila. Her relatives, cited by activist Idelisa Diasniurka Salcedo and the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory, said she had gone to the hospital with intense head pain and numbness in her limbs. The young woman suffered convulsions and underwent an emergency cesarean, but doctors were unable to save either her or the newborn. The family questioned the initial evaluation and the delays in receiving specialized care. The European Union is funding with two million euros a joint project of the Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United Nations Population Fund to strengthen maternal and neonatal care in Cuba. The initiative, announced in May 2026, aims to directly reach 310,685 people. A pregnant woman holds her belly while resting outside a house on a street in Cuba. (Illustrative image Infobae) The program is called Saving Lives at Birth: Provision of Maternal and Neonatal Life-Saving Care in Cuba and is being carried out together with the Ministry of Public Health in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Las Tunas, Holguín, and Guantánamo. The PAHO linked the deterioration of maternal and neonatal health indicators to the country's prolonged crisis, energy problems, recurrent weather events, and the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025. Its priorities include essential medicines and supplies, emergency obstetric and neonatal services, infrastructure rehabilitation, safe water, and sanitation. Maylin Fernández Suris, a Diario de Cuba lawyer specializing in social policies, argued that hospitals' internal reviews are not enough to respond to families. "Hospitals have internal mechanisms to review deaths and possible deficiencies. But families need something more than an administrative investigation: to know the causes, access medical information, receive sufficient explanations, and have effective channels to file complaints when there are indications of responsibility." The lawyer argued that the state's response must include supplies, basic services, care capacity, public information, and complaint mechanisms. "Families have the right to know the circumstances of the death of their loved ones and to file complaints when there are indications of responsibility," she said.