The most recent data come from 2016, when maternal deaths shot up by 65% and infant mortality rose by 30% in a single year. The minister who published that information was promptly fired — and new statistics have been treated as a state secret since. To give birth in Venezuela today is to risk death — for both the woman and her child. Vásquez was once a high school handball player so celebrated for her strength and skill that she travelled Latin America representing Venezuela. But then the door opened, and about 48 hours after her labor pains began, she gave birth to baby Cristal.

Source: bd News24 April 11, 2020 10:30 UTC