Woman saves young mothers from hospital detention: Three weeks after giving birth to twins, 16-year-old Annaelle felt like a hostage: the hospital would not let her leave until she'd paid her medical bills, but she had no money.
Then a woman Annaelle had never met called Grace Mbongi Umek entered the maternity ward at Bethesda clinic in Congo's capital Kinshasa and handed doctors a wad of bank notess caesarean section, and more for two other women who had also been forced to stay.
Like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo has no universal health coverage, and most cannot afford what limited care there is. Hospitals, also cash-strapped, are forced to make patients stay until they have paid in full.I want it to stop,said Umek, a businesswoman who owns shares in several security companies and in 2017 set up a foundation to help mothers with unpaid medical bills.
The mother of four, who first heard about the problem during an encounter with a United Nations official, said she donates up to $3,500 a month.I want women in my country to give birth in good conditions and not be held hostage because they cannot pay.But the minimum of $40 required to give birth in a health facility is steep in a country where according to the World Bank over 60% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day.
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