ArticleReproductive health2019
Hospital detention of mothers and their infants at a large provincial hospital: a mixed-methods descriptive case study, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Article in Reproductive health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Experiences of Healthcare Providers and Households Facing Healthcare Costs in Eastern Kasai/DR Congo: A Qualitative Analysis.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2026Article
- Born Too Soon: Progress and priorities for respectful and rights-based preterm birth care.Reproductive health · 2025Review
- Trapped by debt: an ethnographic study of medical indebtedness and hospital detention in the Fundong Health District, Cameroon.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Predictors of prolonged hospitalization after vaginal birth in Ghana: A comparative study.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Operationalizing respectful maternity care at the healthcare provider level: a systematic scoping review.Reproductive health · 2021Article
- Critical comparative analysis of data sources toward understanding referral during pregnancy and childbirth: three perspectives from Nigeria.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundThe practice of detaining people who are unable to pay for health care services they have received is widespread in many parts of the world. We aimed to determine the proportion of women and their infants detained for inability to pay for services received at a provincial hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a 6-week period in 2016. A secondary objective was to determine clinical and administrative staff attitudes and practices about payment for services and detention.
methodsThis mixed-methods descriptive case study included a cross-sectional survey and interviews with key informants.
resultsOver half (52%) of the 85 women who were in the maternity ward at Sendwe Hospital and eligible for discharge between August 5 and September 15, 2016 were detained for 1 to 30 days for outstanding bills of United States dollars (USD) 21 to USD 515. Women who were detained were younger, poorer, and had more obstetric complications and caesarean sections than other women. In addition, over one quarter of the infants born to these women had died during delivery or in the first three days of life. Key informant interviews normalized detention as an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of patient poverty and health system resource constraints.
conclusionsDetention of women and their infants is common at this hospital in the DRC. This represents a violation of human rights and a systemic failure to ensure that all people have access to essential health services and that they not suffer financial hardship due to the price of those services.
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