CARACAS, Venezuela — The birth of a first baby is usually a source of immense joy for couples. In Venezuela, however, the worries can override the excitement.
Twenty-four-year-old Adaimar Mendoza became pregnant for the first time in the midst of her nation’s worst economic crisis and the covid-19 pandemic that has disrupted lives around the globe.
As a result of the turmoil, prenatal care has been suspended for women at public hospitals. Women arrive to deliver without prior evaluations to prevent complications. Maternity wards are short on supplies and specialists.
That’s on top of basic issues like getting gas to drive to the hospital at a time when shortages of fuel in the oil-rich nation have grown even more dire.
“It’s like we’re in a penalty round,” said Leo Camejo, Ada’s partner, referring to the high stakes finale of a tied soccer match. “The nervousness is always there.”
Venezuelan women for years have felt the acute effects of their country’s economic contraction, even before covid-19 hit. Maternal death rates rose over 65% between 2015 and 2016. Contraceptives are unaffordable for most women. Many pregnant women leave, deciding to seek care abroad.
When Mendoza and Camejo learned of the pregnancy, it seemed life had turned upside down.
The couple lives with seven other relatives in the populous neighborhood of Catia in Caracas. Camejo had regular work as a graphic designer, but in recent months he’s struggled to find jobs. So he began selling hamburgers to pay for $20 visits to a private doctor’s office.
They also had to deal with pandemic complications now familiar to pregnant women worldwide. Every trip aboard public transportation brought fears of contagion.
Though officially the country registers about 65,000 cases, a relatively low number, limited testing means that is likely an undercount.
When their baby was born, the couple said seeing her tiny face gave them the courage to face the new obstacles that will come with raising a child in Venezuela.
“When I see Peyton, it’s like looking at Leo,” Mendoza said. “They have the same nose.”
(AP/Matias Delacroix)
Mendoza’s nephew touches her pregnant belly while standing in her parents’ apartment where she lives with her partner and seven relatives in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela. Mendoza, who must use public transport to get to her prenatal care visits, is doing her best to avoid contracting covid-19.
Mendoza shows her daughter to her partner Camejo for the first time, hours after giving birth. Mendoza said her daughter has her father’s nose.
Mendoza receives a fetal ultrasound showing her unborn daughter who she will name Peyton, from her obstetrician at a private medical clinic where visits average $20 in Caracas, Venezuela. Her partner, Leo Camejo, began selling hamburgers from home, earning enough to pay for the prenatal care appointments.
Ada Mendoza smiles during a game of riddles during her baby shower at her parents’ apartment in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela. Mendoza, center, has carried her baby amidst the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the lives of millions of Venezuelans, who since March 16 are still subject to a severe quarantine. Her partner’s family, who live just outside the capital, didn’t attend the shower due to the travel restrictions brought by the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, and lack of gasoline, amid a nation-wide fuel crunch.
Mendoza rests her head on the shoulder of her partner Leo Camejo, as they return home on a bus after a prenatal visit to a private clinic in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 7. Despite being afraid of becoming infected with the new coronavirus, the couple has no choice but to board two buses to get to the prenatal care appointments.
Mendoza breastfeeds her newborn daughter Peyton for the first time at the Hugo Chavez Frias Public Maternity and Children’s Hospital on Sept. 10. Her partner wasn’t allowed to witness his daughter’s birth due to virus-related sanitary restrictions at the free maternity hospital, where thousands like them can’t afford the thousand dollars price tags of private clinics.
Reflected in the rearview mirror, Leo Camejo sits with his partner Ada Mendoza and their newborn baby daughter Peyton as a friend drives them home after being discharged from the hospital, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 12. The young couple met three years ago thanks to their love of soccer, as fans of the Caracas F.C. team.
Reacting to labor contractions Mendoza leans on her mother as they leave the Hugo Chavez Frias Public Maternal and Children’s Hospital after doctors ordered them to return home to wait for more frequent contractions, in the El Valle neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, just after midnight on Sept. 10. Mendoza returned to the hospital four hours later, and gave birth to her daughter Peyton, after five hours of labor.
Mendoza tries walking to ease her labor contractions as she waits for her cousin to bring the car around. In reference to her labor pains, Mendoza said to her mother, “I can’t take it anymore,” as the cousin drove them to the hospital in his vehicle that was running on empty due to the nation-wide fuel shortage.