{"id":740,"date":"2020-11-11T10:46:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/odz.sk\/en\/?p=740"},"modified":"2022-03-28T01:39:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T01:39:37","slug":"violations-of-womens-and-newborns-rights-in-childbirth-getting-worse-in-slovak-hospitals-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/odz.sk\/en\/violations-of-womens-and-newborns-rights-in-childbirth-getting-worse-in-slovak-hospitals-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Violations of Women\u2019s and Newborns\u2019 Rights in Childbirth Getting Worse in Slovak Hospitals during Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

CDA\/ODZ + \u017dK, 29. 10. 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

Slovak non-governmental organisations Ob\u010dan, demokracia a zodpovednos\u0165<\/a> (Citizen, Democracy and Accountability, CDA) and \u017densk\u00e9 kruhy<\/a> (Women\u2019s Circles) warn of the increasing number of violations of the human rights of women and newborns in childbirth in Slovak hospitals during the current pandemic crisis. The separation of mothers from their newborns is one of the most severe forms of these violations. The organisations urgently stress that healthcare facilities and the state must ensure that childbirth care is provided in compliance with human rights and medical standards even in this complicated situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CDA and Women\u2019s Circles had already warned of the deteriorating situation<\/a> with respect to the violations of the rights of women and children in birthing facilities during the first wave of the pandemic. The same was observed in the second wave as well. \u201cFor example, newborn babies continue to be separated from their mothers, and this practice gets even worse if the woman giving birth has tested positive for COVID-19 or shows its typical symptoms. In a number of cases, women with COVID-19 have been discharged from hospital the next day after giving birth, but their babies remained in the hospital without any contact with their mothers whatsoever. There are also cases where parents have no contact with their infants kept at intensive care units for several days or even weeks. The pictures the hospital staff are sending to parents via mobile phones are a poor compensation for the lack of contact and cannot substitute for the missing close parent-infant bond,\u201d says Miroslava Ra\u0161manov\u00e1<\/strong> of Women\u2019s Circles.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization<\/a> (WHO), even new mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should be supported in practicing skin-to-skin contact immediately after childbirth, in breastfeeding, and in sharing a room with their babies for 24 hours a day. Confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection should not be considered a reason to preventively separate mothers from their babies and not breastfeed them. According to the WHO, health risks associated with the separation and no breastfeeding exceed the health risks of newborns being infected by the coronavirus. Including with respect to the pandemic, WHO has emphasised that all women, including those with COVID-19 or its symptoms, have the right to a positive childbirth experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely alarming to see the Ministry of Health making public statements about the possibility of a longer separation of newborns from their mothers with COVID-19. Just as no one would think of taking older children from their parents who have tested positive, there are no legal grounds that could justify this kind of practice in the case of newborns. Moreover, separating mothers from their newborn babies constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment under international law,\u201d explains Janka Debrec\u00e9niov\u00e1<\/strong> of CDA.<\/p>\n

CDA and Women\u2019s Circles note that they also have information about other forms of violations of the rights of women in childbirth during the pandemic. One such violation is the non-compliance with the principle which requires that every medical intervention must only be performed with the free and informed consent of the person concerned. Other violations also include denying the right of women to have a companion of choice present during childbirth by some hospitals or making the accompaniment conditional upon presenting a negative test for COVID-19 procured by the companion, or upon purchasing hygienic packages from hospitals. Debrec\u00e9niov\u00e1 emphasises that such practice is again in conflict both with the women\u2019s fundamental rights in childbirth and with the WHO recommendations for the time of the pandemic. In addition, it is especially discriminatory against women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds because having a most recent PCR test always available is neither cheap nor logistically simple.<\/p>\n

The organisations note that they are fully aware of the fact that the current situation regarding the pandemic is grave and that the hospitals and their staff must operate under extremely difficult conditions. \u201cThe recent monitoring undertaken jointly by our organisations \u2013 whose results will be published in the next few weeks \u2013 has shown that women understand the need for measures to counter the pandemic, they follow them voluntarily and largely proactively. However, the severity of the situation requires that more effort is also invested in improving communication and building the sense of safety and trust by the medical personnel because, at the end of the day, it may benefit the healthcare professionals, too,\u201d concludes Ra\u0161manov\u00e1.
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