As Massachusetts grapples with an increase in new immigration, medical care is one of the challenges. This is particularly true for people who are pregnant. Patients and medical teams report hungry patients as well as questions about who will care for older kids go when a single parent is delivering a baby.
When Cherlie Ocean and her 5-year-old son arrived in Massachusetts last year, they didn't know another soul. Ocean quickly learned that was a problem. She was pregnant, and her medical team told her that, according to hospital policy, her son would not be allowed to accompany her when she delivered the baby.
The challenges can have particular consequences for people who are pregnant. According to the latest survey by the Immigrant Family Services Institute in Boston, a nonprofit that has helped more than 14,000 newly arrived Haitian immigrants in the past two years, about 30% of recently-arrived Haitian women are pregnant.
Her team tries to prevent situations in which the state’s Department of Children and Families takes the child. She said they warn patients early about the hospital's policy, so they can plan ahead. Louis also helps families in the state-funded shelter system seek an exception to a rule that prohibits families from watching one another's children. In some cases, this allows another family to provide child care during the delivery.
The spokesperson said the agency has no record of any voluntary placements involving migrant families in the shelter system. However, several medical professionals and shelter operators confirmed that the issue of child care for single parents delivering babies is a recurring and challenging piece of the puzzle for newly arrived immigrants.
"When I was left on the street, some people were nearby and they said, 'Why don't you come to Boston?' Ocean remembered."They said: 'In Boston, you can go to the hospital and the hospital would be able to help you.'"
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