Women have been an oppressed lot in many parts of the world, including this one. It has been so for a very long time, and though things look promising at present, I am not sure how long it will take for a total cure of this problem. I have avoided the word ‘radical’ and used the word ‘total’ to describe the cure, because some readers may interpret it as a sign that I am radical in my thoughts and action. I am not. But I definitely feel that no woman should be pushed around, oppressed or even suppressed.
It came as a surprise to me that women are pushed in modern obstetrics.
It came to our notice first when we heard about the proceedings of an audit into maternal mortality. The Assistant Professor from an affiliated hospital responsible for management of a case under discussion was telling us about the sequence of events that lead to the death of the woman. The technical aspects of the discussion ore too scientific and complicated for the readers. But she made a statement “we were pushing the woman into labor.”
That was a new one. We knew about induction of labor, which meant starting labor in a woman who was not in labor, with a view of achieving a delivery. We also knew about augmentation of labor, which meant improving uterine contractions in a case in which the labor is not optimum. But pushing a woman into labor?
“What do you mean by that” the chairman asked her. “What is pushing a woman into labor?”
“She was not in labor. We wanted her to deliver. So we forced labor.”
She probably meant they induced labor. There was no indication for induction of labor in that case. But then elective induction of labor for convenience of the obstetrician or patient is an old concept, though not approved by us. Perhaps it was rebellion on the part of this group of obstetricians in that hospital, who wanted to use a language of their own, instead of old, scientific terms.
That was not it. The trend was widespread. The other day there was a complaint about a resident doctor, who gave misoprostol to a pregnant woman at term. He said he gave half a tablet orally and a half sublingually. He said the tablet was of only 25 microgram, but it must have been 200 micrograms, since the woman developed a very powerful uterine contraction of such a long duration that the fetal heart rate dropped to a very low level and would not come up. They did a cesarean section and saved the baby.
“Why did you do such a foolish thing?” he was asked.
“I was pushing the woman into labor” he answered.
Mothers and babies die when women are pushed like this. I hope the new generation understands this and does not indulge in this manner.
