By Omar Bihmidine
Morocco World News
Sidi Ifni, Nov 9, 2012
Wherever we go in Moroccan hospitals, we are stunned by the bitter reality of pregnant women who still suffer on the verge of giving birth. They suffer not necessarily because of the inestimable pain they feel in the process, but because of the extreme shortage of medical equipment in the form of midwifery staff, maternity wards, hygienic conditions and extremely shoddy medical tools.
Many reports have been written on the issue, stating a number of deaths among pregnant women due to negligence. During a visit by Al Massae to Moulya Youssef maternity hospital in Casablanca and Sidi Said maternity ward in Meknes, many injustices and disservices done to pregnant women were recorded through photos and videos. Yet, gravest of all is that the Health Ministry is still turning a deaf ear to what has been aired by the Moroccan media.
Inside the hospitals in question, the daily Al Massae reports, many blankets were dirty, foul-smelling and torn. Heating devices broke down. Water closets with their basins smelt badly. Rubbish thrown on the floors took much time to be disposed of.
Over-crowdedness also characterizes such so-called maternity wards according to many interviewed families. Each maternity ward, Al Massae discloses, is reserved for three families, which usually makes it extremely difficult for the pregnant women to rest and take care of the babies they have just given birth to. Babies’ cots are so scarce that mothers take turns cradling their babies.
After giving birth, mothers stay on the lookout for their babies for fear that they may be taken away from them. No one is recruited to do the job of guarding each mother’s baby. Here, the hospitals investigated by the daily Al Massae represent and give a clear image of how shoddy other Moroccan hospitals are, especially in terms of the medical equipment in use.
