Separated at Birth

When a woman who has just given birth cannot afford to pay medical fees, there is a risk in Indonesia that her baby will be taken hostage. 

This was a recent story on the BBC web page that told the too common story of newborns separated from their families by hospitals, clinics, and private midwives when they are unable to pay the bill for care during their birth. The story highlighted one such family in Bali (pictured above) in which a women who had given birth to twins but only had enough to pay for one birth. She was separated from her son for four months as every day the debt increased, as the clinic charged for the baby's upkeep. In the end her son was returned to her thanks to the intervention of an American midwife living and working in Bali.

According to the story 36 such cases were reported to the government in 2010 but they acknowledge that many more cases probably occurred as most people probably didn't report it. Care for poor women who are pregnant has been paid for by the government for several years now, but correctly identifying those women, budget shortfalls, and bureaucracy have prevented this funding from reaching those in need. In the coming year a new plan will hopefully be put in place providing universal health care for pregnant women throughout Indonesia but funding problems are expected. Hopefully at least these steps will help reduce this problem. In addition, hopefully it will encourage those who avoid coming to clinics and hospitals because of the cost to seek care.