Haitian women in the Dominican Republic now give birth in unsafe home settings after immigration agents began detaining migrants in public hospitals. Katty Joseph, 20, delivered her son in a shop backroom, cutting the cord with a razor, before the infant died.

The crackdown, launched in April 2025, has cut hospital births among Haitians by nearly 60 percent, from 32,967 to 13,856 in 2024. The policy has also pushed the country to deport 478,000 Haitians since January 2025.

Medical observers warn that home deliveries expose mothers and newborns to infections, hemorrhage, and other fatal complications. One newborn died from suspected malnutrition or tetanus, and a mother later succumbed to septic shock after a twin birth.

These actions strain Dominican public health resources and undermine regional humanitarian stability, while forcing vulnerable communities into perilous, unsupervised birthing practices.