Padma, 28, endured excruciating pain during childbirth, ultimately requiring a caesarean section surgery. She has previously welcomed two daughters into the world.
After the surgery, the first thing she asked about was her newborn’s gender. Learning that it was another girl elevated her blood pressure, and the disappointment was palpable.
Padma was right. During the delivery room’s disturbing moments, tension escalated when the mother-in-law arrived. The mother-in-law was frustrated and disappointed.
In my workplace, at Government Medical College in Jangaon, located in a rural district of Telangana, this unfolds daily whenever women give birth to girls.
Padma is not just a woman. She represents a group, a community, the other half of the society, which comes to the hospital for delivery, hoping she will have a male child.
When a woman’s firstborn is a boy and the second is a girl, there’s a lingering wish for yet another son. The desire for a male child often doesn’t stop at just having one son.
In urban areas, families aspiring for a male child often resort to illegal gender tests. A local quack who knows how it’s done takes them to these centres.
These stories bring forward the challenges women face during childbirth, encompassing not just physical risks but also the burden of societal expectations and familial judgments.