By Sewe Ishola

The publisher of Genevieve Magazine, Betty Irabor today shared an experience she had with a nurse in a hospital in Lagos years back.

She shared the experience to highlight the uneasy relationship between women and used the opportunity to encourage women to consciously treat each other well, as the world celebrates International Women’s Day tomorrow, March 8th, with the theme, #BeBoldForChange

Read Betty Irabor’s experience below.

“Is this your first pregnancy?” The nurse in green uniform asked me as she looked at the screen of the scan machine.

“No, I smiled at her. I was ecstatic because I was going to be a mum a third time… Then the bombshell!!! “If this isn’t your first pregnancy, then how come you didn’t know there has been no heartbeat?”! “What was she saying?”

I sat up straight and stared at her. Shocked! I was still processing what I thought she meant when she hit me again with; “Get up and dress up, go back to your Gynaecologist for an evacuation before you get an infection”. I began to cry, I was dazed, I was traumatized by the news and the viciousness of the nurse. I took one long hateful look at her and cried all the way home.

Evacuation over, I decided I wasn’t going to let this matter rest. I wasn’t going to allow this nurse in a so called prestigious Lagos hospital unleash her bitterness, her bile and hate on any other woman. I was afterall a journalist, so I put pen to paper and told my story to Quality mag, Classic mag and other media where I was a guest columnist. My articles generated public outrage over the nurse’s conduct and the hospital had no choice but to invite me for a meeting. I was asked to describe the nurse, I did. She was summoned and we came face to face once more. Surprisingly, she did not deny any of my accusations, she simply said she was sorry. Sorry?

The authorities apologized and promised to take appropriate disciplinarymeasures against the nurse…..

It’s the International Women’s Day tomorrow, beyond the theme #Beboldforchange which addresses the issue of women transcending gender barriers, women must understand that they are nurturers first and foremost.. We are sometimes deliberately unkind to one another. We sometimes can’t deal with the success or happiness of other women. As we join the conversations and narratives tomorrow in the pursuit of gender equality and fight against cultural biases that inhibit our growth and potential, let us remember that that change begins with how we as women see , treat and fight for other women.. change truly begins when we do!