Haitian Lourda Jean Pierre died shortly after giving birth at home after seeing images of pregnant women and new mothers being rounded up in hospitals by immigration agents
About an hour after giving birth on the floor of her one-room shack in the Dominican Republic, Lourdia Jean Pierre, 32, started gasping for breath.
Her husband, Ronald Jean, knew something was seriously wrong, and shouted for help from the neighbours.
“She gave birth without any problems and was fine for a while,” he says. “But then she felt sick and people told me to call the emergency services. When they arrived, she was already dead.”
Jean will never know what might have happened on 9 May had his wife given birth in hospital, surrounded by medical staff and equipment, instead of at home. But he knows that was never an option.
