Photo: TikTok printscreen/instrumentarkajellenanf"Women have become aware of their rights and what the patient-doctor relationship should look like," lawyer Jelena Stanković, one of the authors of the report on obstetric violence, told Vreme.
Women are empowered not to suffer violence, to slowly get rid of their fear and start talking about it, says lawyer Jelena Stanković, one of the authors of the 2022 report on obstetric violence, for "Vreme".
The conclusion of the report "Treatment of women in gynecological and obstetric institutions” is, among other things, that obstetric violence has become a serious systemic and burning problem of the state of Serbia.
They are being heard more and more frequently in Serbia in recent days women's testimonies who were victims of violence during childbirth, after a woman in labor announced on Facebook that the gynecologist and obstetrician at the hospital in Sremska Mitrovica was responsible for the death of her baby.
In a post on the Facebook social network, she stated, among other things, that the doctor inflicted physical injuries on her during childbirth, that he threatened her and insulted her "on a national basis".
He is a gynecologist. busted due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of "serious crimes against human health" and he was detained.
After the patient's statement, other women also came forward with their testimonies of violence during and after childbirth.
"Women have become aware of what rights they have and what the patient-doctor relationship should look like," explains Stanković.
Sixteen ways of hurting
According to the data from the report, female patients experienced 16 different forms of obstetric violence in gynecological-obstetrical clinics during various medical treatments, of which verbal violence was the most prevalent form of violence.
"In addition, a large percentage of women had induced labor against their will, Christeller's procedure was applied to them during childbirth also without their consent, which resulted in a large number of physical injuries to the women giving birth (Christeller's procedure - pressure on the abdomen of a woman who is in tension in order to push the baby down into the birth canal), they were not allowed to consume water, and it often turned into physical violence," says the "Vremena" interlocutor.
According to her, doctors were most often responsible for the violence, although she says that obstetric violence is normalized to such an extent that it is also present in communication with other medical personnel.
"Verbal violence has become an everyday phenomenon that patients face already upon entering gynecological-obstetrical clinics. By verbal and psychological violence, I do not mean only communication in a raised tone, but also frequent insults to female patients based on their physical appearance, judgments that they will not be good mothers because they "do not cooperate" during childbirth, and other ways of placing the blame on women if something bad happens. ", says Stanković.
After the story of the woman in labor from Sremska Mitrovica became public and after other women also began to speak publicly about everything they experienced in gynecology and obstetrics departments throughout Serbia, several cities held protests, where the responsibility of the authorities was demanded.
The Ministry of Health has been asked to define a delivery protocol that will inform women about possible interventions and their rights, as well as who to contact in case of violations.
Problems in procedures
Obstetrical violence does not exist as a term in the laws of Serbia, Stanković explains and adds that he knows from practice that there are verdicts, mostly with suspended prison sentences of several months to a year.
"The problem with those procedures is that patient-witnesses often refuse to testify because they are afraid of the consequences, and it is also difficult to find a forensic doctor from the list of permanent forensic experts who would like to objectively prepare a report and opinion that would be used in the court case. procedure, because they are colleagues and they have each other's backs," said Stanković.
Among several proposals on how to reduce the possibility of any kind of violence during childbirth, there was also an initiative of the Kreni-promeni movement, to allow fathers to be present at childbirth in Sremska Mitrovica. Their proposal was adopted and the general hospital in Sremska Mitrovica will be allowed to accompany women in labor free of charge.
However, as our interlocutor says, although this is good news, it should not be connected with the latest events, because violence does not only happen in delivery rooms.
"I believe that the presence of an escort during childbirth should be a right and a possibility of the patient, and not an obligation, so that there would be no more violence." The solution to violence should not be passed on to mothers and their families, but the system should provide a solution," concludes lawyer Jelena Stanković.
The hospital formed a commission for an extraordinary expert check and informed the health inspection. Cases of death during childbirth in Serbia rarely receive a judicial epilogue.
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