-As It Implements New Fees for Maternity Services
By Jerromis S. Walters
Monrovia: Since July 1, 2025, many pregnant women seeking medical care at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center have ended up with undue complications due to challenges with handling the latest increment in mandatory registration fees for maternity and gynecological services, as well as Caesarean sections. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center since announced an increase in registration fees for the various services, and this has sparked debate over healthcare accessibility in Liberia.
In an official memo dated June 16, 2025, Dr. Linda A. Birch, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, notified Chief Financial Officer Joseph Massah that revised fees would take effect on July 1, 2025. Under the new pricing structure, pregnant women seeking obstetric care will now pay $10 USD per visit, while patients requiring gynecological services will be charged $20 USD, with their payment remaining valid for two weeks to accommodate laboratory processing times.
The decision, which was communicated through internal hospital channels and copied to key administrators including Davidetta AB Parker-Sirleaf of the Liberia Institute for Medical and Health, has raised immediate concerns among patient advocacy groups. Critics argue that the fee increases may create significant barriers to healthcare access, particularly for low-income women and those from rural areas who already face financial challenges in seeking medical attention.
Ms. Josephine Seeking, the Communications Director at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center confirmed to this paper on Sunday that the new fees took effect since July 1, 2025, as indicated in the document. However, she declined to explain the rationale behind the price adjustments, and insisted an in-person interaction. For some Liberians, this decision will have a direct impact on the West African state’s (Liberia) maternal mortality.
The maternal mortality ratio in Liberia has improved from 1,749 in 2000 to 628 in 2023, according to the World Bank. However, maternal mortality in Liberia is higher than its regional average. Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births.
Limited access to quality emergency obstetric and newborn care is a key factor contributing to the high maternal mortality burden, according to the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
New Fees for Life-Saving C-Sections
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center has also instituted a sweeping new fee structure for Caesarean sections that took effect August 1, 2025, requiring patients to pay $200 in upfront medical costs before receiving the critical surgical procedure. Under the updated pricing policy, pregnant women must now pay a $25 admission fee covering hospitalization, a $90 charge for the C-section operation itself, $65 for essential medications and surgical supplies used during the procedure, and $20 for mandatory laboratory tests including complete blood count, urinalysis, microscopy and blood grouping before they can access care.
Hospital administrators circulated an internal memo directing medical staff to enforce strict payment compliance, insisting that patients provide proof of payment through deposit receipts prior to being admitted to the operating theater. This policy shift comes just one month after JFKMC increased registration fees for routine maternity and gynecological services, compounding financial pressures on Liberia’s most vulnerable women.
Examining The Impact:
Activists say the new maternity fees at John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center will likely have severe consequences for poor and financially vulnerable women across Liberia, potentially reversing years of progress in maternal healthcare. For women living below the poverty line who struggle to afford necessities, the $10 fee per obstetric visit represents nearly a week’s worth of income, forcing impossible choices between feeding their families and receiving prenatal care.
They believe that many pregnant women may delay or skip essential check-ups altogether, increasing risks of undetected complications like eclampsia, hemorrhage, or fetal distress that could prove fatal without medical intervention. Moreover, the activists say the $20 fee for gynecological services presents an even greater barrier, particularly for women needing treatment for chronic conditions like fibroids or infections, who may abandon care entirely rather than sacrifice their family’s food security.
“Rural women face compounded hardships, as they must account for both the new fees and substantial transportation costs to reach the hospital, often traveling for hours on dangerous roads. Teen mothers and single women, who frequently lack family support, may find these costs completely insurmountable, pushing them toward risky alternatives like unlicensed traditional healers or unsafe self-treatment methods.”
Women’s rights advocates think that this policy shift threatens to undo Liberia’s fragile gains in reducing maternal mortality, which at 1,072 deaths per 100,000 births remains one of the highest rates globally according to World Bank data. “When women cannot afford proper medical care, they face higher risks of life-threatening complications during childbirth, while their newborns suffer increased chances of low birth weight and developmental issues.”
Public health experts warn that the fee increases may also discourage women from seeking treatment for gynecological conditions until they become emergencies, leading to more complex and costly interventions later. “For a country still recovering from Ebola and economic instability, the potential strain on emergency services could prove devastating. While hospital administrators cite operational needs, advocates argue that alternative solutions—such as tiered pricing, government subsidies for low-income patients, or donor-funded waivers—could maintain financial sustainability without excluding Liberia’s most vulnerable women from lifesaving care.”
