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Pregnant women are reporting cases of mistreatment, abuse and the disappearance of babies during childbirth and immediately afterwards, allegedly carried out by health professionals in various hospitals in Mozambique, with most of the complaints coming from Cabo Delgado, Maputo city and Maputo province. Civil society organizations are demanding an investigation and that offenders be held to account.
This Tuesday, 40 civil society organisations launched a campaign in protest against the violence and degrading treatment to which women are subjected in the pre-partum, childbirth and post-partum period in hospitals in the country.
Most complaints come from the city and province of Maputo. In the last half of this year alone, civil society organizations registered about 15 reports of violence perpetrated by health professionals against pregnant women and women giving birth. Of these, six took place at Ndlavela Health Centre, three at José Macamo Hospital and seven at Maputo Provincial Hospital.
“We want to express our indignation at reports of obstetric violence and negligence,” Camila Fanheiro, from the Women’s Observatory, began, adding that “violence is characterised, on the one hand, by maltreatment and death of parturients and, on the other, by the disappearance of babies that has been registered in the country”.
The most recent case happened to 37-year-old Leila Marinela, who was admitted to Maputo Provincial Hospital in Matola on the 4th of July. In tears, Leila recounts the horrors she experienced there. “They insulted me, told me to run so that the baby could be in a position that facilitates the birth, even though I complained of pain. Then they put me in a dark room and closed the door,” she said.
From so much pain, she lost a lot of blood and then lost consciousness. “I woke up in Maputo Central Hospital [Maputo city] without a uterus and, when I asked about my baby, they told me it was stillborn.” But when she went to look for the baby’s body at Maputo Provincial Hospital, “they told me that there was no record of any stillbirth that day”.
Civil society organisations are demanding that the health authorities investigate reported cases.
“We cannot accept that entities that have a duty to protect [us] remain silent. We demand that an investigation be carried out and that disciplinary and criminal proceedings be instituted against the health professionals involved, and also an in-depth investigation into baby trafficking networks in health units,” Fórum Mulher’s Maira Domingos said.
Regarding Cabo Delgado, the organisations denounce the lack of assistance to female victims of terrorism living in accommodation centres.
In the coming days, the reports will form part of a criminal complaint which the 40 organisations that make up the Observatório da Mulher will file with the Attorney General’s Office [PGR].
By Isabel Manhiça
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