Since August 2024, Gabon has been offering free deliveries in public hospitals. The aim is to end, if not limit, maternal and infant mortality. However, there are still grey areas and challenges to be met.
Only from the sixth month of pregnancy will women be covered, right up to delivery. This free service covers pregnancy monitoring and neonatal care.
“It’s a good thing. Let’s hope it continues and goes all the way,” hopes one woman. “In any case, it’s a good initiative. We need to keep it going, to make it easier for the poorest families,” adds a man.
However, this joy is likely to come up against the harsh realities on the ground. Gabon’ s maternity wards are far from living up to expectations, and for good reason: “Women give birth and sleep on the floor. This is not normal. There’s no hot water, there’s nothing. There’s no water at all. In the toilets, there’s none,” says one woman, anger and bitterness written all over her face. A man added: “There aren’t enough beds. There’s a crying shortage of beds”, saysanother woman, hammering home the point that“apparently, there are only four incubators at the hospital. Is this normal for such a large facility?”
Obliged to acknowledge these shortcomings, the country’s health authorities promise to make greater efforts to improve the health system and public infrastructures.
