It Is Not OK

by Sally Hyman

It’s not OK to be pregnant when you don’t want to be
because there was no birth control,
or because you were raped.
It’s not OK
to go hungry during pregnancy
to be travelling
to live in a squat
in a camp
in a tent
on the street.
It’s not OK to give birth without support
in a place where you don’t understand the language
where you cannot consent to examinations, to surgery.
It’s not OK to have your new born baby taken and only see them one hour a day
to not understand what is wrong
to have to feed powdered milk which you can’t afford or even find
to leave hospital too soon, without your baby
to travel on the bumpy Metro with a caesarian section scar of 5 days
to see your baby for half an hour
to be so cold in your home or so hot that your baby has the runs,
can’t breathe is covered in flies or dies.
It is not OK to be back in a squat
or a camp
with little water,
dirty toilets,
no nappies,
not enough food.
IT IS NOT OK.

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