MSF supports reopening of major maternity hospital in Port-au-Prince

A nurse is taking care of a patient in the MSF-supported Isaïe Jeanty Maternity in Port-au-Prince.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is supporting the reopening of the Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital, one of the largest in Haiti, which closed during a wave of violence in early 2024. In partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), MSF co-manages the facility to provide sexual and reproductive healthcare services to address critical, largely unmet needs.

Access to health care in Haiti has become severely limited amid ongoing violence and insecurity. Maternal and infant mortality rates remain among the highest in the Caribbean and Latin America. Between February 2022 and April 2025, the maternal death ratio in hospitals rose from 250 to 350 per 100,000 live births, while home deliveries without medical personnel have become increasingly common.

Currently, nearly 60% of births in Port-au-Prince occur without medical care, raising the risk of complications such as hemorrhage, infections, and hypertension — a leading cause of maternal mortality.

“Because of the growing insecurity, several health facilities have shut down, reducing the availability of sexual and reproductive healthcare,” said Diana Manilla Arroyo, MSF country director. “Every woman deserves a safe place to give birth, yet this basic right is too often denied. This is why reopening Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital, in an especially isolated area such as Cité Soleil, is absolutely crucial.”

The hospital gradually reopened at the end of 2024. Since then, MSF teams have been rehabilitating the structure and supporting the progressive resumption of services, including pre- and post-natal care, contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, obstetric surgery, and critical care for survivors of sexual violence.

The facility also serves as a training ground for the next generation of obstetric healthcare professionals, strengthening the capacity of Port-au-Prince’s health system and contributing to the future of maternal and reproductive health across Haiti.

Since the beginning of 2025, the hospital’s activity has steadily increased: pre-natal consultations rose from 56 in January to 547 in July, while deliveries increased from 10 in April to 134 in August. Nearly 220 survivors of sexual violence received care from March to September. The opening of a temporary operating room allowed 18 surgical interventions in July, 37 in August, and 45 in September, with efforts ongoing to open two permanent operating rooms.

“Haiti is trapped in a devastating cycle of sexual violence, unwanted pregnancies and high-risk pregnancies, undermining the most fundamental reproductive health decisions — to choose if, when and with whom to have a child,” Arroyo said. “With one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the region and a collapsing health system, access to safe care remains out of reach for many. Every woman and girl should have the right to live free from violence and to have control over her body, health and future.”