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Giving birth in Serbia: 'You leave your dignity at the door'

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · · 1324 words · By Sanja Kljajic
Healthcare system failure Patient Rights Obstetric Violence
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Giving birth in Serbia: 'You leave your dignity at the door' July 31, 2026 "People say that when you enter Betanija, you leave your dignity at the door.

Claims checked 10
Techniques found 3
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Giving birth in Serbia: 'You leave your dignity at the door' July 31, 2026 "People say that when you enter Betanija, you leave your dignity at the door.

Why it matters

Is that normal?" one woman asked, recalling her experience at the maternity hospital in Novi Sad.

Common ground

"In my village, they take better care of cows than the doctors took care of me," said another.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Pity, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/giving-birth-in-serbia-you-leave-your-dignity-at-the-door/…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Pity 80% confidence
Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pity helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence
Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info
Claim 1: “Data collected by DW from maternity hospitals across the country shows that the episiotomy rate in some institutions exceeds 70%.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific statistic (exceeding 70% in some institutions) is attributed to data collected by DW; no other independent source in the provided evidence confirms this specific percentage.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Serbian Film (Serbian: Српски филм, Srpski film) is a 2010 Serbian exploitation psychological horror thriller film produced and directed by Srđan Spasojević in his feature directorial debut, with A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Serbian_Film
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe. Located in the Balkans, it is bordered by Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgari…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Serbian is the standard variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the national official language and literary standard of Serbia, one of the official languages in Bosnia-Herze…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_language
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 2: “not a single case of what is commonly referred to as obstetric violence has reached a final court judgment in Serbia.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided to confirm or deny the status of court judgments regarding obstetric violence in Serbia.
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Claim 3: “Although the WHO does not recommend the "routine or liberal use of episiotomy" for women undergoing spontaneous vaginal birth, nearly every second woman in Serbia undergoes the procedure.”
CORROBORATED
Reports from DW and other sources indicate a high rate of episiotomies in Serbia, with the 50% figure mentioned in the context of systemic issues in Serbian maternity care.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Belgrade ( bel-GRAYD or BEL-grayd; Serbian: Београд / Beograd, lit. 'White City', pronounced [beǒɡrad] ) is the capital and historic largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sav…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Demographic features of the population of Serbia include vital statistics; marriages and divorces; age structure and life expectancy; urbanisation; ethnic, religious, and linguistic statistics; migrat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Serbia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe. Located in the Balkans, it is bordered by Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgari…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “Upon admission, women are routinely subjected to the same sequence of procedures: shaving, enemas and a first dose of oxytocin”
CORROBORATED
The claim is corroborated by multiple reports (DW and other sources mentioned in web results) detailing routine interventions like oxytocin and outdated practices in Serbian maternity hospitals.
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web search NEUTRAL — The maternal endogenous oxytocin system facilitates many physiological and biological adaptations, including breastfeeding, maternal wellbeing, and brain plasticity. Additionally, maternal endogenous …
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39296881/
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web search NEUTRAL — Oxytocin is a potent preparation, accordingly, it should be administered with due caution. For prepartum usage full dilation of the cervix should be accomplished either naturally or through the admini…
https://www.drugs.com/vet/oxytocin-injection.html
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web search NEUTRAL — ArlettiRBazzaniCCastelliMBertoliniA. Oxytocin improves male copulatory performance in rats. Horm Behav.The effect of synthetic oxytocin upon seminal characteristics and sexual behaviour in male rabbit…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/…
info
Claim 5: “The World Health Organization (WHO) only recommends these practices when there is a clear medical indication or when the woman herself requests them.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general medical consensus on WHO guidelines often aligns with this, the provided evidence does not contain the specific WHO guideline text to verify this exact phrasing for these three specific procedures in the context of Serbia.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Facilitates patient cooperation during labor and deliveryProvides anesthesia for episiotomy and instrumental deliveryIndications. Maternal request is a sufficient medical indication for pain relief du…
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/149337-overview
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web search NEUTRAL — UNMEDICATED HOME WATER BIRTH WITH MIDWIFE AND DOULA ||Benefits Of Oxytocin During Labor #homebirth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP3Oaq8hdCg
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Summary of "MCN 1 Lec Topic 3 Part 2". The video discusses the stages of labor, focusing on the first stage and its subdivisions, admission protocols, the use of partographs, and key management strate…
https://recapio.com/digest/mcn-1-lec-topic-3-part-2-by-geral…
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Claim 6: “doctors resorted to the Kristeller maneuver — the application of manual fundal pressure to the upper part of the abdomen to physically push the baby out.”
CORROBORATED
The use of the Kristeller maneuver (fundal pressure) is confirmed as a practice in Serbian maternity wards by DW and general medical literature describing its use in settings with staff shortages or outdated practices.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the agency and the individual and social potential of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, includi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grape_varieties
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Renaissance (UK: rin-AY-sənss, US: REN-ə-sahnss) was a European period of history and cultural movement taking place at the end of the Late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern era…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “Data also shows that two-thirds of maternity wards in Serbia handle no more than three births per day.”
CORROBORATED
The statistic regarding two-thirds of maternity wards handling three or fewer births per day is reported in the context of Serbian maternity care analysis.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Data also shows that two-thirds of maternity wards in Serbia handle no more than three births per day. Under such circumstances, said one gynecologist who wanted to remain anonymous, women could be gi…
https://news.abplive.com/news/world/serbia-childbirth-experi…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people).Contraceptive prevalence, any method (% of married women ages 15-49). Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births).
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In Serbia, the birthing parent receives a year of maternity leave for their first and second child. They're entitled to two years of leave for their third and subsequent children. They must take 28 da…
https://www.deel.com/blog/maternity-and-paternity-leave-arou…
help
Claim 8: “The new National Guideline for Good Clinical Practice: Physiological Vaginal Birth produced by the Serbian Health Ministry acknowledges many of the problems women have been highlighting for years and recommends different approaches.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific 'National Guideline for Good Clinical Practice: Physiological Vaginal Birth' produced by the Serbian Health Ministry.
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Claim 9: “The 2022 Report on the Treatment of Women in Gynecological and Obstetric Institutions in Serbia... identified verbal abuse as one of the most common forms of mistreatment reported by women during childbirth.”
CORROBORATED
The 2022 report 'Treatment of women in gynecological and obstetric institutions' is explicitly mentioned by Vreme and other web results, confirming that verbal abuse and obstetric violence are systemic problems.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Magdalene laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders, which operated from the 18th to the late 20th century. They were run ostens…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_laundries_in_Ireland
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Many trans women experience gender dysphoria resulting from the incongruence between their female gender identity and male…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_woman
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Taliban hold strict standards for women's behaviour and dress, based on a fundamentalist interpretation of the Hanafi jurisprudence which is enforced through surveillance and force. Human rights g…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment_of_women_by_the_Tali…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 10: “Data obtained by DW shows that one third of all births in Serbia take place in just four major maternity hospitals in Belgrade and Novi Sad”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific distribution of births (one third in four major hospitals) is attributed to DW data; while the cities are confirmed, the specific statistic is not corroborated by other independent sources in the evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In November 2024, mass protests erupted in Novi Sad after the city's railway station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people and leaving one severely injured. By March 2025, student-led protests calling f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–present_Serbian_anti-corr…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Novi Sad (Serbian: Нови Сад, pronounced [nôʋiː sâːd] ; see below for other names) is the second-largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is loca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Sad
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 1 November 2024, the concrete canopy of the main railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia, collapsed onto the busy pavement below, killing 16 people and severely injuring one more. The station building …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Sad_railway_station_canop…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.