It is commonly said that figures talk by themselves, nevertheless, statisctics are not always enough to represent essential facts like the low infant mortality rate attained in the Cuban province of Sancti Spiritus -2,9 in 1 000 born alive.

According to Doctor Manuel Lopez Fuentes, consultant for the Mother-Children Program (PAMI) in this province, pregnant women are closely supervised since they are called to the clinic for the first time -between 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy- to be examined by geneticists, obstetricians and psychologists among other health professionals. This is the time when a first ultrasonography is made looking for possible anomalies.

The training of the health staff in charge of caring for the pregnant women constitutes a key aspect in the survival of the newborns.

Another relevant feature of the program is the fact that the provincial maternity hospital, where the 60 per cent of deliveries of the territory take place, reports cero deaths since February this year. It is worth mentioning that this is the institution where all complicated deliveries are referred.

Source: By Oscar Alfonso Sosa, Escambray