I remember Belarusian gynecology as a terrible dream, although I did not reach the advanced levels of this game - pregnancy and childbirth.

But I was faced with ignoring the symptoms, and with the approach of "give birth, and everything will pass", and with biopsy without anesthesia, and with painful manipulations without warning immediately after my request to warn.

And, of course, like other women, she saw pro-life propaganda in women's consultations.

After moving to neighboring Latvia, I saw that everything could be completely different.

It turned out that gynecological departments in polyclinics and hospitals can be oriented towards women.

It turned out that I can be treated as a full-fledged patient even though I am not pregnant now and do not plan to become pregnant at least in the near future.

It turned out that my so-called women's health can worry doctors not only in terms of reproductive prospects.

At first I thought of writing a text about what gynecology should be like in the future free Belarus, but I quickly corrected myself.

Women always have the right to quality care and decent treatment.

Gynecology and obstetrics should be oriented towards women already today, and many of these changes do not require spending a lot of money at all.

We just need to remember that every woman who asks for help is a person.

No pictures of cute babies

Now Belarusian women's consultations are focused exclusively on women whose desired and easy pregnancy ends with the birth of a healthy baby without any complications.

Now, completely different women come to these consultations - those who have been struggling with infertility for years, and those who have lost their desired pregnancy, and those who gave birth to a stillborn child or lost it shortly after childbirth.

Women come there after being raped, and they go there to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

There they make primary diagnosis of oncological diseases, check for venereal diseases, choose contraceptive methods, and treat hormonal disorders.

And there shouldn't be any hierarchy — happy moms and their interests shouldn't come before everyone else.

Do you want wall decor?

There are many neutral options - waves, flowers, clouds, etc. - that will not be a trigger for women who have experienced a miscarriage or the death of an infant.

No pro-life propaganda

I know that referring to Belarusian laws is a bad tone, but I will remind you that the church in Belarus is separated from the state and that religious propaganda has no place in a medical institution.

If it matters to a woman what modern Christian priests think about her pregnancy, she has the opportunity to go to church with these questions.

In clinics and hospitals, there is a place for medicine and scientific facts, not stories about the soul and manipulative images, where the role of a 6-week-old embryo is played by a 9-month-old fetus at best, and at worst by a four-year-old child who can actually feel, think and talk. .

Comments on reproductive plans are by request only

In Belarus, I regularly had to answer questions like "Why aren't you planning a pregnancy?"

and listen to some comments on my answer, however polite or sarcastic.

And never once was such a dialogue directly related to the topic of health.

It's just that the doctors thought it necessary to inform me, their patient, about their views on family life and reproductive strategies.

And one doctor, in general, instead of asking about sexual activity, asked if I was married.

And when I said at another visit that I wanted to undergo a routine HIV test, she replied: "Well, you're not married."

All this is, of course, unacceptable, and doctors must be taught ethics and deontology, not for the sake of a bird, but for real.

Among other things, they should have a clear understanding that one cannot express their own assessment of something, if there was no request for it, and even more so if it is not directly related to the patient's health and the reason for the patient's visit.

Pre-abortion consultations — only upon request, with a psychologist and in the interests of the patient

Today in Belarus, women who want to terminate a pregnancy are obliged to go through the so-called pre-abortion consultation, the task of which is not to help a woman understand her feelings and make the best choice for herself.

The sole purpose of these consultations is to dissuade the pregnant woman from having an abortion.

In 2017, journalists Yevgeniya Dougaya and Anastasia Avkhimovich conducted an experiment and recorded what actually happens at such a consultation.

In short, disinformation, intimidation and religious propaganda.

None of us deserve this.

It would be better if everyone understood such a simple and such a radical idea: a woman is a person, and the rights of a woman are the rights of a person.

The opinions expressed in the blogs represent the views of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editors.

• Nasta Zakharevich

  Freelance journalist, radical feminist

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