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  2. Vol 29, No 12 (2025)
  3. Edouard

Giving birth: Individuals trump authorities

Lindsay Edouard(1),


(1) Editor, African Journal of Reproductive Health, Port Louis, Mauritius
Corresponding Author

Abstract


Planned to meet medically-defined needs, sexual and reproductive health services face an incongruent demand resulting from different perceptions of individuals seeking care. Pregnancy being a physiological state, as opposed to disease, maternal perspectives need emphasis in policy-formulation for service delivery to acknowledge the difference from medical care sought for health problems. The complex issue of caesarean section on maternal request necessitates professional guidelines adapted to local situations. Having no business in bedrooms, government should fully respect individual rights and not use their political power to curtail services, whether as pertaining to personal practices or pronatalist policies.

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