inBUSINESS Issue 14

HEALTH
Mothers Who Kill:
Are They Going Against Nature?
No baby or child should suffer or die at the hands of its mother
Words: Tuduetso Tebape
Ask any mother what her worst nightmare about
her child is and the thought of her child dying
is one that is likely to be at the top of her list.
Mothers want nothing more than to see their
children living long and happy lives, and a good
mother will do anything in her power to ensure
the realisation of this dream.
Sadly, not all mothers have this dream for their children. For
whatever reason, the birth of a child for some mothers is a
nightmare from which they want nothing more than to escape.
At any cost.
Cases of mothers killing their children in Botswana are
not uncommon, and heinous as this act is, more and more
such cases are receiving police attention. As a matter of fact,
Botswana Police Service estimates that between 2005 and
2010, at least 450 foetuses and babies were abandoned in the
bush, dumped by the roadside or discarded into the foulest of
places like pit latrines, in many instances resulting in the death
of the little ones and gory newspaper headlines.
The Botswana Gazette’s first edition for 2014 ran story titled:
“Newborn found dumped near filling station.”
BPS Assistant Commissioner, Christopher Mbulawa, says
where the mothers are successfully traced, there are several
offences they can be charged with for committing such crimes.
They include abortion, murder, concealment of birth and
infanticide. In the event of the latter, which Wikipedia defines
as “the intentional killing of infants,” the courts take a stern
view of perpetrators of what must surely count among the
most heartless forms of murder, the victims being at the most
precious and vulnerable stage of human life.
Says Mbulawa: “Sometimes issues of infidelity, love gone
wrong or a mother’s minority of age are at issue.” Sadly
again, the problem is not unique to Botswana. In Germany,
for example, about 25 to 30 babies are abandoned or killed
immediately after birth every year. A study by Professor Hirohito
Suzuki of Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan further describes an
intended solution to this problem that has been developed
in Germany. It is known as Babyklappe or “baby-drop,” which
allows the mother to safely leave the unwanted baby with a
facility that can provide the necessary care.
Professor Suzuki explains: “From May 1, 2014 a new law came
into force in Germany. This is the Expectant Mothers Assistance
Law — Anonymous Birth Law. The fundamental stance of this
law is to ensure that pregnant women who feel apprehensive
about revealing their identity can give birth under medical
management in a hospital, and to provide them with the
assistance that would enable them to make a choice of having
a future life with their child. To this end, a reliable and ongoing
support system that will protect the benefit of anonymity of the
pregnant woman (and) encourage women who are particularly
burdened to seek assistance in the first place is readily accessible
to all and is reachable at all times is necessary.”
Batswana women who are faced with the dilemma of an
unwanted pregnancy or baby do not have such options that
have been used as a model for Japan’s Konotori no yurikago
(Stork’s cradle). Yet it cannot be deemed difficult to go-to
places for a woman who finds herself stuck with an unwanted
baby or child. SOS Children’s Villages, for instance, are home to
about 534 children who have nowhere or no one to go to. An
additional 1 519 children are taken care of by SOS through its
Family Strengthening Programme.
The organisation’s National Director, Kitso Motshware,
explains: “SOS is an alternative to the family. Our first preference
is for the children to stay with relatives. However, if that is not
possible, we give them a home. Instead of being so cruel to
the precious gift if life, we should seek help. We encourage
mothers who are thinking they have no options to seek help
from pastors or social workers.”
Assistant Commissioner Mbulawa echoes similar sentiments:
“It is wicked of anyone to commit such heinous crimes as
infanticide. We appeal to people not to exterminate life at any
stage. They can go and seek help from various places.”
But however unforgivable such these crimes are, the reality
is that mothers who perpetrate them are in need of help.
Therefore more psychosocial and medical services should be
made available to them because no baby or child should suffer
or die at the hands of its mother.
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www.inbusiness.co.bw | Issue 14 | 2017