Every Woman Counts

A Tribute to Women on International Women's Day

Napoleon Bonaparte, once said “You give me good mothers, I will give you a good nation”. Mothers the important part of a society ……the nurturers and the caregivers. But is it so in our country?...rather the truth of the matter is that this species can now be classified as endangered; facing risk of extinction, at the hands of the medical practitioners, their families and all those who somehow play a role in the nine month period of their lives or on actual D-Day itself.

Pakistan, a third world developing mostly illiterate country, faces a tough situation in the medical sector where the rural and urban population is affected more or less in the same way. It does not matter if one can afford medical care or not, women are not properly taken care of before or after giving birth. Carrying a life-form for nine months, wreaks havoc on a woman’s physical, mental and emotional state, but the dearth of information available for the relatives and caretaker, likens a woman to an animal, that can be impregnated repeatedly without concern for her stability or safety. Repeated pregnancies, after-birth bleeding, and infections after C-sections are some of the common dangers a woman faces nowadays. Hospitals not properly equipped, doctors overburdened, nurses harassed, families ill-informed and women themselves too weak to have any say; results in a catastrophic situation where a woman has to bear the brunt of everybody else’s shortcomings.

The situation now calls for extreme action where the government alone cannot do anything. The public and private sector have to work hand in hand to take serious measures to protect women. The government can establish separate Natal Care Clinics countrywide, where women should be taken care of before, during and after pregnancy. Proper record maintenance, record shifting from city to city, proper tests, organization of classes to familiarize the woman and her family members of her delicate situation: are some of the basic functions these clinics can perform. Another step is proper legislation, to keep all medical practitioners under check e.g. when gynecologists’ opt for C-section, just to earn an extra buck. The general public can help the government initiative by being a bit more receptive to new information and developing a caring attitude towards women. The private sector i.e. the NGOs can help the government in this regard by applying their world class expertise, in establishment of these clinics as they are better equipped to handle this situation because they have a proper system of checks and balances which 98% of the time guarantees success, plus they are more aware of the ground realities because of the way they carry out detailed situation analysis in the rural areas. They can succeed where the government has failed because they more or less get the job done.

As Rudyard Kipling aptly defines a woman’s worth “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” We as Muslims are duty-bound to respect women and their needs regardless of caste creed or financial stability.