One
of the most prevalent images of Macedonia in the traditional folk music and
literature is that of a mother – a torn, tortured, suffering and grieving
mother. Consequently, it shouldn’t come much of a surprise that the prospects
awaiting most mothers here are starkly similar to this image. Apart from the
fact that in recent years it has become downright dangerous to a woman’s life
and health to embark on the adventure called pregnancy and childbirth, the
state and society offer very little help and assistance during those tumultuous
first years of raising a little member of the proverbial country’s future.
The
position of women, and especially women in childbearing age who are
increasingly dependent on care and support, as second class citizens is
probably most apparent in the public gynecological clinics and wards. The
declining state of the country’s healthcare system has paved the way for the
flourishing of the private (and expensive) maternity hospitals, which offer a certain standard of services, but
are unfortunately out of reach for most of the women in this country. As a
result of this, women have no choice but to use the services of state-owned
hospitals where the conditions are devastating (which in fact applies to all
kinds of state-owned hospitals and clinics in Macedonia), yet what is even more
striking is the personnel’s attitude towards their gynecological patients, which
is openly condescending, patronizing and borderline insulting in the best of
cases, with hidden subtexts of slut-shaming.
Violence
over pregnant women – an indicator of low esteem
The
burning issue of violence during childbirth in the Balkans has been written
about and Macedonia is no exception, yet somehow the blatant terror suffered by
childbearing mothers fails to stir the public or provoke a reaction among the
policy-makers. Could this be because of the traditional perception of
childbirth as an inherently painful experience, the goal of which is to “tame
and humble” the woman into submission and inferiority? There are even testimonies
of women being beaten up and yelled at during childbirth, or left completely
unattended while going through extreme pain and distress which has resulted in
life-long trauma. The personal wants and needs of pregnant women are largely
neglected, and women are routinely silenced and trained into a state of
semi-slavery (often by means of restrictive abortion laws) under the pretext
that they are no medical staff and therefore have no right to give any
statements and opinions about their own bodies, or even ask for explicit
information on the medical findings so that they can take an active part in the
decisions concerning them and their children. On top of this, a recent scandal
revealed that a certain gynecologist from a private gynecological clinic had
been routinely lying to women trying to conceive by means of IVF that they are
pregnant when they, in fact, were not. After an anonymous woman braved into
revealing the doctor’s name and misdeeds (facing an avalanche of misogynistic
ridicule on the social networks about how stupid she was for being lied to), a
line of other women chimed in, claiming that they had also fallen prey to the
same doctor, who stripped them of their money and dignity, but that they had
felt too ashamed and humiliated to speak up.
In
the past decade, there have been a few cases with fatal outcomes to the lives
of pregnant women, some due to negligence (anesthesiologists working
intoxicated in the most controversial case in Gevgelija), and others from
septicemia due to poor hygienic conditions.
Second-class
citizens
The
statistical data available from domestic and international source indicate a
deterioration in the rate of mortality of infants and childbearing mothers in
the country in recent years. According
to the data from the State Statistical Office from the Statistical Yearbook for
2015, the rate of perinatal death in the country is 14.3, which is the highest
marked level within the EU and almost triple the European average. In
comparison, the rate of perinatal death in Serbia for 2015 was 8.9, it is 11 in
Bulgaria and 5.7 in Croatia.[1]
Infant deaths are most frequent among the Roma, due to the multiple discrimination
that Roma women face. What is even more devastating is that despite the
Government’s declarative efforts and special programs to protect and care for
mothers and infants, the death rates are still going up.
Moreover,
our country does not keep statistics on Post-partum Depression, nor does it
have any methods of detecting it and offering possibilities for treatment,
especially for those who live away from the bigger administrative centers. In addition, seeking any kind of
psychological help is still a social taboo and considered terribly shameful.
Consequently, the number of mothers suffering from post-partum depression or
anxiety is unknown and it is very difficult to undertake any measures, or
advocate for any policies under such circumstances.
Life after the first few months post delivery is
also bleak. Often living
with their husband’s extended family, placed at the lowest rank of the family social hierarchy according to
the Balkan patriarchal tradition and expected to listen and obey, young
mothers, especially those in rural and less developed areas, are frequently
forced to uphold a strict set of superstitious rites and customs related to
childbirth and delivery, some of which can even be considered ridiculous in
modern times and most of which are aimed at confining them to the home. The
situation is only slightly better for women living in nuclear families, who may
be free from the reins of the nonsensical superstitions, but are also often
left to themselves work out a balance between childcare (in conditions when the
country offers state-subsidized pre-school centers sufficient to cover only 26
percent of the children), household chores (which are traditionally “a woman’s
duty”, and men’s engagement is considered as men offering to help the woman)
and their professional life (where they often face the threat of dismissal on
daily basis, especially in the private sector), which is often a reason for them to curb their
ambitions and stagnate professionally.
Single
mothers against the wall
Single
mothers are one of the most vulnerable groups in the society. Always close to
the brink of the abyss of homelessness, there is no state-subsidized housing or
employment to help them raise their little ones, apart from a meagre allowance
awarded through a tedious bureaucratic procedure. Very often they are perceived
as immoral and flawed, “the cancer of society” as a recent tweet said. The one area where the patriarchal structure
of our society may lend women some credibility (within the patriarchal division
of roles) can be traced in the divorce
proceedings where they are seen as a the primary custodian, but this is now
under a threat due to a new initiative to introduce “joint legal custody” or
shared parenting after divorce in the law, under the pretext that single mothers
alienate their children from their fathers and take advantage of the alimony
(which is very low and insufficient even for our standard, and which a large
proportion of fathers avoid paying by taking advantage of various gaps in the
law, and even against the
law, as there is no effective law enforcement in this area exists). Taking into
consideration the context in this country, where women have a much lower
financial and social standing than men, where they undertake 4 times more of
the domestic and childcare-related chores, where there are indications that as
much as 73% of the divorces are due to domestic violence perpetrated by a man
and where there are no functional shelter centers and measures for economic
support of survivors of violence and their children, this initiative would only
cement the status of single-mothers as the outcasts of society.
I
end this brief summary of the grave reality of motherhood in Macedonia and on
the various (ab)uses of motherhood as an instrument for subordination and
disadvantage of women, with a ray of hope because with the recent developments
and teaming up of various groups of women to work for common causes we may see
the glimpses of a brighter future far ahead.
[1]
Source: http://www.reactor.org.mk/CMS/Files/Publications/Documents/smrtnost_na_rodilki_doencinja.pdf
