The death of Daniela Aurora Ochoa Hernández, a 22-year-old pregnant woman residing in Ciego de Ávila, along with her newborn baby, has reignited concerns about the collapse of the Cuban healthcare system and the extreme vulnerability of pregnant women. The family directly blames a resident doctor at the Roberto Rodríguez Hospital in Morón for not acting in a timely manner in response to signs they deemed clearly dangerous.
Daniela arrived at the hospital with intense headache, numbness on one side of her body, and high blood pressure—serious symptoms for anyone, but even more so for a pregnant woman with a history of gestational hypertension. However, as reported by activist Idelisa Diasniurka Salcedo on Facebook, the doctor who treated her downplayed the alarm signals and did not call for specialists who could assess a potential neurological event.
The young woman was hospitalized, and the next day she suddenly collapsed beside her bed. She suffered seizures and lost consciousness. The doctors acted quickly at that moment, but it was already too late, as Daniela died, and minutes later, her baby also died, having been delivered via a cesarean section performed after the mother had already passed away.
"The most painful thing is that it could have all been avoided," lamented the family, which claims that proper assessment or an early cesarean would have saved two lives. "We are witnesses to how a young mother and her child died because what medicine requires was not done," they wrote on social media.
The case provoked a wave of indignation among Cubans both on and off the island. The exiled Cuban doctor Alexander Figueredo described what happened as “a silent massacre resulting from institutionalized negligence,” and pointed out that in Cuba “nothing works: there are not enough doctors, resources are lacking, and humanity is missing.”
According to Martí Noticias, which reported on the case, the tragedy occurs at a time when official figures confirm the accelerated deterioration of the healthcare system. Maternal and infant mortality, which for decades was a propaganda cornerstone of the government, has been rising for three consecutive years.
Independent observers warn that the combination of a shortage of specialists, overcrowded hospitals, outbreaks of arboviral diseases, and a lack of medications is leaving pregnant women exposed to risks that were previously avoidable.
Daniela lived in a small rural town in Ciro Redondo. Her baby was of good weight and was nearly full-term. Today, instead of preparing for the arrival of a new family member, her mother and her community are mourning two devastating losses.
While the Ministry of Public Health remains silent, the family demands justice and a thorough investigation into the actions of the medical staff. They also request that the case not go unpunished, so that no other pregnant woman has to endure the same hell.
The image that has outraged those who learned about the tragedy is that of the small double coffin where Daniela and her baby were laid to rest. It symbolizes the extent of suffering that Cuban families can endure when negligence and healthcare collapse intersect at the worst possible moment.