An NGO has shone the torch in the labour ward, a venerated space that only women whisper about to each other as they compare notes about their harrowing ordeals.
It turns out that the very noble chamber in which we usher in our future generations is a space that has been turned into a dehumanising torture chamber from where mothers are traumatised for years after getting their babies.
The staff composition of the labour ward has only recently started to change, with a sprinkling of men venturing into a room that has been exclusively female.
KELIN, the not-for-profit, documents the desperation of pregnant women who, instead of getting help, were met with disapproval, humiliation and even violence, with rogue nurses slapping and pinching instead of providing helpful instructions and guidelines.
Teenage mothers seem to bear the brunt of the contempt most as most of the midwives see them as too young to have babies.
Women – young or old – must never walk into a labour ward anxious about the labour process, and worse, the fear of degrading and inhumane treatment.
Childbirth must be a happy and joyous occasion and not a distressing and harrowing nightmare packed with negative memories.
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Quote of the day: “A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” — Pope Francis arrived in Edmonton, Canada, to begin a penitential trip on July 24, 2022
