Our Desk | Where can pregnant migrants turn to?

Lynzy Valles

A family friend announced at a social gathering that she is two months pregnant – happy news for all present.

Everyone was advising her to be more cautious in the way she works, also telling her to eat food that would strengthen her and the growing baby.

However, after a few days, she lost the baby, and held her tiny eight-week old fetus in grief.

She had to rush to the emergency room to remove residual pregnancy tissue from her womb, which required a surgical procedure.

She spent two nights in the hospital alone, full of sadness and a sense of failure.

This family friend, who has worked as a domestic helper in the SAR for nearly a decade, was issued a bill amounting to MOP22,000.

Thus, aside from the emotional stress that she underwent, the thought of acquiring a MOP22,000 bill could be as stressful as losing the baby.

The only way for her to resolve her unsettled bill was to seek help from the Social Welfare Bureau – which required her to submit the hospital bills and a statement declaring that she could not afford to pay the balance.

Another worry that preoccupies her is that the public hospital may not allow her to repay them on a monthly basis, and that she had to borrow money from her employer to pay enough for her to be able to be discharged by the hospital.

The nine-fold increase of delivery-related service fees for non-residents have become a burden for many. How, given that the average foreign domestic worker has a monthly wage of MOP4,500 to MOP5,500, could they resolve an outstanding balance of MOP22,000?

It is a choice for many migrants to give birth in the SAR because of convenience and I do not think that is wrong. They should not be significantly charged more just because they are in this jurisdiction.

I do not think healthcare should be made so inaccessible to anyone, especially here in the SAR.

The unsettled balance remains a big burden, particularly if that amounts to four months of one’s monthly earnings. This is not just a burden for household workers but also for those migrants working in integrated resorts.

I am aware of a pregnant migrant worker who works in a hotel in the city, and is having to decide whether she will give birth here or just go back home instead due to the significant increase of child birth fees.

The current service fee of natural childbirth for non-local workers was increased from MOP975 to MOP8,775 – an amount that equals a month’s salary for these workers.

The logic that “domestic workers should not be included in the minimum wage plan because they already earn higher than what they earn back home” – “opinions” produced during the public consultation before this increase was implemented – should not be applied here.

In fact, it should not even be uttered in any cases or situations, as it purely does not make sense. Tt is offensive, and degrading.

The easy access to healthcare should be provided to these migrant workers at a more sensible price.

I agree that it is important for the government to prioritize locals, as that is how it normally works even in other countries; but overcharging workers in its jurisdiction is something that remains questionable.

It is an issue that remains despite how the city claims to experience “rapid development” in all aspects.