The European Roma Rights Centre has reported that a 37-year-old Romani woman and her baby have died in Skopje, North Macedonia after being emergency transported to the hospital from Ohrid, a city in the west of the country. The mother arrived at the hospital only to wait hours for treatment.
The woman then suffered complications that resulted in the death of her baby in utero and died later of sepsis after doctors in the emergency care unit were unable to revive her. The incident occurred on 31 March.
The woman's water had broken days before, and she had been waiting for doctors to accept her at the gynaecological clinic in Ohrid to deliver her child. She visited the clinic several times, complaining of extreme pain and showing signs of infection, but was denied treatment and sent home.
She was finally rushed to the emergency department in Skopje only to be left outside the hospital for more than six hours while personnel waited for the results of a COVID-19 test. The Ministry of Health has since confirmed to the ERRC that her results came back negative.
The woman lived in poor conditions with her husband and two children, aged three and six. Because of her poor background she was unable to afford the cost of traveling to visit a doctor often.
