Mothers who never became mothers....
The face book is full of “mothers’
day’s wishes”. And I also added my contribution to the same, by sharing a blog
article which I had written when my mother was with us, in the late stages of Alzheimer’s.
And I was at the same time
reading the life story of Ida Scudder. The story of, how she as a young lady
resisted the thought of being in India, but three events which happened the
same night changed her life to consider a return to India. The rest is history.
The events were – three young women in labour, dying the same night, because there
was no lady to provide care for them. And Ida though requested, did not want to
go, because she was untrained. Nor would the husbands allow her father the
Doctor, to care for them because of their religious and cultural practices. (Dr
Ida, Passing on the Torch of Life). This was in 1890’s, from an “undeveloped India”.
I had been away for a few days
and returned to our hospital this mid week. Walking into ICU the first patient
I saw was, a lady, who had been brought a few days earlier, in late stages of
labour, with the child already in severe distress and badly infected. She had
to be taken for emergency surgery to save the child the day she came in. Now,
she was in shock, sepsis, DIC (Bleeding from multiple places due to infection) and dying. A young woman in her early 20s, first pregnancy, not too far from
the local town. What prevented the family from bringing her in time? They were
willing to spend money to take her to the nearest town to try to save her life
now. But this could have been prevented if they had come a few hours earlier.
What prevented them from bringing her in time? One would never know. The
outcome – a mother to be, never became a mother, and in that process of trying
to be a mother will soon lose her life…. Who is to blame….?
Within two hours, another lady
was brought in seizing. She had an abortion 10 days back (no details known as
usual) and was now in severe sepsis, and late stage renal failure with a
creatinine of 20mg/dl. We stabilized her and got ready to refer her for
dialysis, to the nearest town. Other than the husband, who looked like a
college student, no one was around. He could not take any decision. We waited
for 2 days with supportive management. No one came till the third day. And finally
those who came were, one sister and a sister in law, who could not take any
decisions nor seemed keen to do much. Then the stories emerged. He was from a particular
community and the girl from another community. The marriage was not welcomed by
the larger community and family, and so no one was willing to support them. She
in her late teens, (19 or so) tried to become a mother, and in that process
lost her life….
The next day morning (yesterday),
as I walked in for rounds, I found another lady being wheeled in from theatre.
She, again in her first pregnancy, had been brought in shock, with a badly ruptured
uterus, had to be immediately operated to save her life. The child was already
dead. The rupture was such that, it is unlikely that she can become pregnant
again, though she will survive and go home. Again, a young lady, who wanted to
be a mother, just escaped from death, but would never become a mother again….
These are stories from 2016, not 1890’s, and
from our own nation. A nation which is promoting itself to be a world leader.... The destination for global economic growth..... The vibrant democracy and a model
for the world to emulate…. the Incredible India….
As we remember our mothers, who sacrificed
much for us, it may be worth remembering the many mothers, who have and are
still losing their lives in our nation. Not because of their fault, but because
of the system and structures do not protect their lives….
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