SUKMAYA'S burden

Gopal  Khanal

Although she could not read and write, Sukmaya had learned that she should undergo family planning through the advice of her friends and neighbours. She did not realize that she was weak because of the ulcer in her uterus. She came to know that giving birth to a lot of children can cause weakness. In a way she was helpless and was not in a position to decide for her own good, writes

the age of 22, Sukmaya fell very sick while giving birth to her fourth child. She had not felt such pain before during her three

previous pregnancies. This time she experienced excessive blood flow and went through a lot of abdominal pain. Since there was no sign of any outer injury, Sukmaya felt that the excessive blood flow was simply due to weakness. But later she found out that the pain came from a developing injury in her uterus.

After 18  years, Sukmaya's daughter took her for a check up and it was only later that she came to know she had cancer of the uterus. But she did not receive any kind of treatment for the cancer.

Sukmaya is now living a difficult life with her 12 children and her husband, Brikha Bahadur Chemjong, in the village of Balubathan, Jhapa. Sharing her experience, Sukmaya says that she gave birth to eight children after the injury to her uterus, She further adds that every time she gave birth, she suffered a lot of pain and agony but then in time the excessive bleeding seemed normal to her.

Although she could not read and write, Sukmaya had learned that she should undergo family planning through the advice of her friends and neighbours. She did not realize that she was weak because of the ulcer in her uterus. She came to know that giving birth to a lot of children can cause weakness. In a way she was helpless and was not in a position to decide for her own good. She felt bad when the doctor told her that the ulcer developed because of the lack of appropriate food and lack of health care during her numerous pregnancies. According to Sukmaya, her husband did not listen to her when she suggested family planning after their third child.

 It may be surprising that a woman can give birth to twelve children even without the timely decision of family planning. She was forced to give birth against her wishes and she was not given any nutritious food even after low blood counts during the pregnancies.

She gives the impression that she was very naive when she married at the age of ten. After the birth of her fourth child, she again tried to convince her husband about family planning but in vain. At that time her husband had said that there was no hurry for any family planning but, later, he started to totally neglect the issue.

 She fell sick five times after the birth of her fourth child. After the fourth pregnancy there was excessive bleeding every time, but she could not go to the hospital. Early on, she felt that the sickness would go away by itself. But later she could not go for treatment sometimes due to lack of money and sometimes due to lack of cooperation from her husband.

Sukmaya gave birth to her eldest son when she was just 16. There was an understanding with her husband that she would give birth after every two years. But her husband rejected decisions regarding family planning and treatment in hospital. A fully equipped hospital is only 10 kilometres away from where they live. Necessarily, poor families who cannot afford hospital fees are unable to take their sick for treatment. But the Chemjong family is suffering at present due to the indecisiveness of Birkha Bahadur.

Sukmaya, who migrated to the Terai after marriage, did not have any other family pressure besides her husband. Even now she has not done family planning. Her husband says that she has grown old, she may not be able to work after the operation. He says, it is too late to look for treatment.

According to the Family Health Department, 28 percent of the population in Nepal are not able to take part in family planning although they have the desire to. Out of this 28 percent, fifty percent are not able to do family planning due to family pressure. Most of the time, it is the husbands who do not give permission.

At present, Sukmaya has 7 sons and 5 daughters. Among them, only four children who were born first are healthy and the rest are suffering from malnutrition. Brikha Bahadur, who is 48 years old and  Sukmaya 40, are both very sick and they do not have sufficient amounts of food.

 In Sukmaya's village as far as she knows there has been one permanent family planning health camp every year. Although   the villagers and the health workers had advised  her to go for permanent family planning, She was unable to reach the camp. She had made her decision to go for laparscopy but her husband again did not give her permission .

 Among the 50 percent households, Brikha Bahadur's family has the highest number of children. According to Ward Chairman Madan Adhikari, such problems have grown due to lack of awareness. He says, "the government should launch effective and adequate service camps, focusing on family planning and safe motherhood."

MAIN