CNDH recommends Pemex repair harm in obstetric violence case; baby born 8 hours after water broke

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has issued a strong recommendation to Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), demanding the state-owned oil company address human rights violations stemming from obstetric violence. The CNDH found that a woman and her newborn suffered due to inadequate medical attention at two Pemex health facilities.

The incident occurred on August 3, 2024, when the pregnant woman, carrying a high-risk pregnancy, sought care at the Consultorio Reforma in Chiapas. Lacking trained personnel for deliveries, she was transferred by ambulance to the Regional Hospital of Villahermosa, Tabasco. There, her care was significantly delayed, resulting in her son being born eight hours after her water broke, placing both mother and child at serious risk.

An investigation by the CNDH revealed that medical staff failed to account for the pregnancy's multiple risk factors. They also neglected to provide sufficient information about potential fetal abnormalities and offered substandard care characterized by omissions and inhumane treatment. The woman underwent procedures to induce labor without adequate information, and later required a Cesarean section due to the fetus's declining heart rate.

Concluding that obstetric violence occurred, the CNDH noted that a conciliation proposal made to Pemex in September 2025 was rejected, prompting the issuance of this formal recommendation. The CNDH is demanding comprehensive reparations for both victims, including medical and psychological care for the mother and rehabilitation therapies for the newborn.

Furthermore, the commission requested Pemex to initiate an administrative review into the potential involvement of seven public servants implicated in the case. The recommendation also calls for Pemex to implement ongoing human rights training for its medical staff and establish internal guidelines to ensure maternal health rights and freedom from obstetric violence.

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the medical staff did not take into consideration the multiple risk factors of the pregnancy, omitted to provide sufficient information about possible malformations or chromosomal alterations of the fetus, and provided inadequate care, characterized by omissions in medical care and dehumanized treatment.