Labour rooms and ICUs in hospitals overflow with stories of discrimination against newborn girls.Bothered by such heartwrenching tales, doctors in government hospital who regularly witness the disturbing bias, have come together for a novel initiative titled ‘Project Srishti’. Under this initiative, they have been holding awareness sessions in government hospitals and orphanages since the past two weeks.
During the awareness drive, doctors narrate to people stories of how families disown a girl immediately after she is born, how nutrition or medical treatment is denied to a girl child, how women have to keep getting pregnant four or five times just so that she can give birth to a boy, how health of women is affected and the financial implications of repeated pregnancies.
Disturbed by bias
A. Swetha, an anaesthesiologist at Niloufer Hospital who initiated the project, said she regularly comes across such bias.
“There have been situations where a just-born girl is abandoned on the hospital bed, or in some corner of the hospital. At times, some families claim that they had been blessed with a boy and not a girl, just to disown her. I try to speak to mothers who are disturbed immediately after delivery. Some of them pour their hearts out, saying they have to give money to their in-laws for them to accept the girl child and enter the house. I try to do my bit by counselling the family members,” she said, adding that families at times vent ire at doctors for a girl’s birth.
Colleagues’ support
As extension of her efforts, she initiated Project Srishti around two weeks ago by holding an awareness session near the Out-Patient block of Niloufer Hospital that is usually always crowded. Gradually, her colleagues from anaesthesia, obstetrics and gynaecology department and paediatric surgery started joining the community project.
Their agenda is to change people’s attitude towards the girl child, and to accept and empower her.
Dr. Swetha added that they try to bring to the fore immediate problems that people face and how change of attitude towards girl children can resolve the issue.
Girl empowerment
“There will be people who cannot read or struggle to find directions in the hospital. I tell them that if the girl child in their family is educated, they do not have to face this problem. I explain to them merits of accepting a girl child, of how an educated, empowered girl in family can support the family and nation, financially as well as in other ways,” she explains.
The doctors are now set to collaborate with NGOs who work for the same cause and organise awareness sessions for other sections of society.