'It's a nightmare' Haiti's maternity clinics forced to close as violence soars

The worst fears of midwives at Heartline Haiti were realised last week. As they prepared the maternity clinic that evening, armed men laid siege to their neighbourhood in eastern Port-au-Prince, spraying bullets at police and rival gangs, setting cars on fire and ransacking houses.

- Luke Taylor

"All of our staff were huddled in an interior hallway hearing the noises outside the gates and walls, afraid they may be next," said Tara Livesay, the NGO's executive director. "A gang member was shot dead outside, just two doors over." After a terrifying night, staff managed to make it out safely the next morning after the street battles subsided. The organisation has had no option but to close the clinic, leaving the 75 pregnant women it had been supporting with nowhere to go for medical care or to have their babies delivered.

"We've tried so hard to keep the clinic open, but there is not much else we can do now. I can't ask people to go to work if they might get hit by a bullet," said Livesay.

Armed gangs have terrorised the Caribbean country since its president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021, but in the past month there have been unprecedented levels of violence. The UN's human rights expert on Haiti, William O'Neill, has called the situation "apocalyptic".