Search Results for Malawi

In January 2016, the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights called for national laws on abortion to comply with its regional treaty agreements under the Maputo Protocol. In July 2016, the then new Association of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Malawi backed abortion law reform. and a report said that politicians, academics and civil society organisations were calling for speedy abortion law reform in the country because of the high rates of mortality and morbidity from … Continued

In a hospital room in Thyolo, a southern Malawian town nestled in tea plantations, Ngellina Chikopa unwraps her sarong to reveal a long wound filled with pus. The cut stretches from her lower abdomen through her belly button and up past her stomach. The 18-year-old gave birth by caesarean section in April 2018, but the baby died of asphyxia after becoming stuck and suffering brain damage from lack of oxygen. While she was grieving, the wound became infected. … Continued

The Malawi Law Commission, following its review of the colonial abortion law, has proposed liberal changes which, if implemented, would expand access to safe abortion.

In May 2018, “Rachel” was a Standard 5 pregnant school drop-out. At the age of 15, she is already facing pregnancy complications befitting the age of her mother. It is over three months now since she walked into the maternity ward at Thyolo District Hospital to await her labour. When she arrived, the nurses told her that she would only deliver through caesarean section. The subsequent experience vindicated her fright. Fear haunts her. Discharge of … Continued