Ica nu yulo nij tlajpáyo, I salute you from the bottom of my heart.
My name is Angelica. On 4 August, as part of the observance of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, I received a public apology from the authorities The CDMX Health Secretariat seriously violated my human rights.
Share my story with everyone, hope it doesn’t happen again.
On August 11, 2020, when I attended an antenatal control consultation at the Emiliano Zapata Hospital in Iztapalapa, I was rushed to the hospital because my blood pressure Still high.They asked me in front of my mother: which one to use? contraceptive method Would you go away: IUD, implant, or surgery?I replied at that time i don’t want any I signed a document stating this.
My dream is to give birth naturally at home, have the midwife pick me up immediately, do a late umbilical cord cut, and the baby’s father and I can deliver her together, but when I was admitted I confirmed that it would be different, although I didn’t imagine getting it Everything that comes down.
First, when a social worker was doing socioeconomic research for me, she asked what my level of study was, and I replied that I was doing a bachelor’s degree; he smiled and said: Seriously, a graduate, what are you doing here? They were also surprised that I could speak English which really annoyed me. Couldn’t the women of Iztapalapa achieve something like this?
When they took me to the operating room and gave me a spinal anesthesia, I probably moved because I heard a woman’s voice say “well, she’s nervous, she better sleep”. I didn’t realize when my sun came up. I left her alone, but she was brave with both of us.
When they took us upstairs at dawn, I had very little colostrum and my baby was crying so hard because he was hungry. It was the same the next night. So, I asked the night nurse to get her a bottle. She told me she understood me but she couldn’t because the head nurse at night was strict and they were all afraid of her.
A short time later, the head nurse arrived, and she insulted the other patients as she passed. When she arrived with me, I asked if the formula could be an exception. He told me out loud: “If they don’t know how to be good mothers, I don’t know why they have children, which is why I don’t have children.” I replied that every woman out there deserves respect and she couldn’t treat us like that.
Later, when I gave him a urine sample for analysis, he said: “You’re too talkative to need water and blankets.” She took them away. This is how we spent our second night: I curled up with the baby at dawn, cold.
At dawn, the morning nurse asked me why I was only wearing a gown. I told him and he just shook his head. He brought us sheets, water and a bottle for my baby. This detail is everything.
A few weeks after I left the hospital, they called me in for tests.During the consultation, the doctor did not examine me, but asked me: “What contraceptive method did they use for you?” My mother replied that I used an IUD, and I was surprised by her answer because I have no idea. The social worker who was reading my discharge slip said, “They have implants.” What, what to do? ! Does she have an implant or an IUD? When in doubt, they took an x-ray of my abdomen at the time and we found out that I did have an IUD.
what did they do to me I think. They didn’t take my decision seriously. I felt invalid, violated, abused.
That afternoon, I chatted with my sister. I was in some kind of emotional shock with all that happened in these three days and found this incident was the final straw. He asked me if I wanted to sue and I responded promptly because of his question. I immediately said yes. He told me: I will shorten the distance between you through TURN.
My case was not an isolated incident. Conversely, the use of contraceptive methods without a woman’s consent is more common than one would like to admit. The problem is that it is not reported.
My baby girl and I experienced all forms of obstetric violence. This happened to me because I was a woman and because I had this inner thought, “poor people shouldn’t have children”. This has never happened to a man, and it has never happened to a woman who can be treated in a luxury hospital, so it is gender-based violence and discrimination.
All medical procedures require consent and must be done free, prior and informedan element that must always be guaranteed, especially when dealing with indigenous peoples and communities. They said that the document I signed did not meet any of these requirements, for which invalid, which in itself proves that my rights have not been respected.
The road already feels long and winding, and it won’t be over until all the comprehensive reparations measures enacted by the Victim Assistance Executive Committee are in place.
Thank you to the GIRE team for being with me, for believing in me, for their mission and their commitment to it.
To my children: This is for you and for you, and I will be there for you, love you, and protect you when I need you. I love you infinitely.
I want to say to the women in this city I also raised my voice for you. I think about what happened to me so it doesn’t happen to you, and if it does, you know you have the tools and allies to back you up. It is not normal for them to mistreat you during prenatal consultations, either during labor or during the puerperium. It’s not good if they don’t respect your decision. Your body, your decisions. The birth of a human must again be seen as a sacred act. Tlaxcamatic miac, thank you very much.