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In Hinduism mothers have a very special place. Some religious texts place them before God, and say those that love and serve their mothers with a pure heart will go to heaven. In Nepalese society, based on Hindu customs, mothers are revered.
Unfortunately, the reverence is limited to honoring mothers on special days and months of the year. On "normal" days, Nepalese mothers face hardship and extreme prejudice.
According to the National Demographic Health Survey, as reported by the Himalayan Times, six mothers and 60 newborns die every day in Nepal due to lack of maternal and neonatal care. The country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
This is a horrifying scenario by any standard. Nepal's inability to protect mothers and their newborns is largely due to a lack of political will, as well as the economic reality and social issues.
Let us skip the issue of political will for the sake of sanity. Annie Lowery, an editor at Foreign Policy magazine, recently commented that Nepal's current government deserves to fail because of its incompetence. And that is a compliment. The data and ground reality on maternal and infant mortality is so appalling that anything you say to criticize the government which is printable is a compliment.
It is not all the current government's fault, however. Past leaders didn't do anything to alleviate the situation either. Every year, the establishment plays the numbers game, shows some decline in the death rate and then spams the media proclaiming its victory over maternal and infant mortality.
Economic and social pressures also keep expectant mothers away from seeking medical help. In Nepal's male-dominated culture, most women don't have the means to go to the doctor or health clinic by themselves; they must seek their husband's or nearest male relative's help and permission. Very often, the husbands – due to lack of awareness – ignore the need to seek medical attention during pregnancy and labor. As a result Nepal loses six mothers every day.
If you have had a chance to visit Nepal or observe Nepalese society closely you know what life is for an infant who loses his or her mother, or a mother who loses her newborn. Society is pretty cruel on them. The baby does not receive proper care and love and if it happens to be a girl, she is forever marked as the "unlucky one." And for a mother who has lost her child, she is hounded with cruel taunts and often blamed for the tragedy.
Even in supposedly educated and liberal families of Kathmandu, maternal and neonatal health is often ignored. I have seen that in my own extended family. A close relative of mine was not “allowed” to see a doctor until she was six months along, and she lived about five minutes away from the country’s largest hospital.
So the news of new mothers being forced to live in dirty cow sheds, alone with a crying infant, is no surprise. Nepalese society is still in the dark ages when it comes to protecting mothers.
I am a new mother. My daughter turned four months old recently. Days after returning from the hospital I read the report on maternal mortality in Nepal and I cried for a long time. How can a nation and a society not notice when 60 newborns and six mothers die every day?
In recognition of Mothers Day, I wish Nepal and every Nepalese would pledge to honor mothers every day and save mothers from untimely death during childbirth and pregnancy.
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(Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance reporter. Her articles have been published at OhMyNews, NepalNews, Toward Freedom, Telegraph Nepal, Himal South Asian and ACM Ubiquity. She is also a regular contributor to News Front Weekly, in Kathmandu, and Nepal Abroad, in Washington D.C. She can be reached at bhumika_g@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Bhumika Ghimire.)
