By Noel Ihebuzor
Inert the child lies,
bathed in blood,
still and silent,
the silence of the ward
broken by the mother’s aching sobs
exhausted,
long labour had drained her,
almost turning her blood blue,
till eventually the blade
brought relief and pain,
baby was curled, drained
cord twisted and twined
around a narrow neck,
life slowly choked by the connection
that had linked them
and nourished,
the emptying evening drags
as she sits and sobs
imagining how this life
she had known in kicks and movements
would have looked
had the cord that nourished
not also extinguished
pondering this mystery of failed procreation
where lives are twined forever,
scars remain after departures,
sadness slowly strangling her soul,
like a cord, the pains of an empty womb
now more acute
as her soul bleeds
above and below the lines of suture.
****For the SunChild who lost her baby, and who felt that the sun had gone out! Be strong, Tashie, Ndo!
Reflections 
Oh! So sad, so very, very sad. Heartbreaking. Preventable. Horrible. I cannot “like” this. I have been there, on that bed, under a different knife, in another country where this outcome was prevented. Oh, the waste of life. The pain. My sympathies to the mother.
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Giving life should be a choice and not a chance thing, and society has a duty to make sure that a woman who makes the choice is supported to see that “Nine months” end not in pain but in joy and gain.Advocacy is required to push this.
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Oh, Lord, yes. Too late for this child, this poor young mother, but not too late for others. I do not, cannot, understand any other mindset than what you have expressed here. The process of life-bringing should not end in death as often as it does.
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Thanks so much for the poem. it is so appreciated. I am much better now. And thanks to all who did comment on this topic. I have accepted it with good faith. God knows best and the one that will stay will come soonest. Amen!
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Jisie ike!
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Reblogged this on Susan Daniels Poetry and commented:
heartbreaking
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a mother holds
her lifeless child—
what little
words we have
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So very sad, and you are right N…there is a strong need for advocacy here, this should NOT happen. Anywhere!
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Agree, Rhonda. All must rally around reducing infant/neo-natal mortality!
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Absolutely. It is heartbreaking N. Just heartbreaking.
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Really sad !!!
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It is indeed so!
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That’s just breathtaking.
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The experience fills one with overpowering grief!
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My gut aches! So poignant.
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it is painful!
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Yes, painful!
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So heartbreaking, so painful so much grief. You said this so poignantly, Noel and I can imagine the agony she went through. As we normally say in Ghana during such times, the good Lord knows best. My heart goes out to the Sun Child.
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Yes, it is painful, Celestine. I am sure Sunchild is coping with the loss and drawing strength form her belief in God. Her comment indicates that much.
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YES I AM STRONGER NOW.
THANK YOU ONCE MORE.
GOD KNOWS BEST LIKE YOU DID SAY.
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So poignant … Very painful.
I have a sister- inlaw who had a still birth because of pregnancy induced hypertension! Eight month. We shown the pictures of the lifeless body.
It’s still haunts me
The mother is on antidepressants
The Sunchild….
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Yes, Patricia, these experiences can be very painful!
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