FOLLOWING AN EVACUATION OF RETAINED PRODUCTS OF CONCEPTION
- Feb 14
- 1 min read
By Sam Szanto
It’ll have to be the labour ward,
the midwife says, wheeling
the woman who is bleeding.
There are no private rooms free.
Having passed rows of belly-rubbing women
the woman who is bleeding
is left to heave her empty belly
onto the hard bed. Her husband rests
on an invisible chair.
The woman clutches the bag
that bulges with folded sleepsuits,
nappies, energy drinks, jelly babies,
romper suits, nursing bras, the birth plan.
She silences the phone that fires
questions soon to be
replaced by heart and hug emojis.
The ward grows louder,
babies sirening and mothers crying.
Candle-stiff in her white bed,
the woman absorbs their sobs.
There’s no need for that, a nurse says
in a kind tone, flicking off the light.
The woman who is bleeding
opens her red eyes and sings a nocturne
to a person who will never see
a nightlight, a curtain, a rainbow.
The crying quietens as the others listen.
Another woman joins in and then another.
The babies’ cries form a chorus.
The song is taken up
in other towns and cities,
a bracelet of smoke rings
meeting and merging, merging and meeting.
Note: the phrase ‘Evacuation of Retained Products of Conception’ refers to a small operation performed to remove remaining products of conception still inside the uterus (womb) after a miscarriage or abortion.