The silent storm: Unmasking the crisis of pregnancy loss in Pakistan

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In a society where a woman’s value is often measured by her ability to become a mother, abortion is much more than physical harm. It is an emotional turmoil that dissolves many dimensions of a woman’s life. In Pakistan, this trauma is intensified due to cultural notoriety, social expectations, and systemic shortcomings in health care, which creates a fact where many women are forced to grieve over the silence of the asthma.

Over the years, in my clinical practice, I have seen leaves of abortion of wounds behind the breakdown of mental fitness, a calm punishment of crime, and deep, uncontrollable frustration. These are not naval emotions. They are suffering from psychological burden, which are often hidden behind unmanaged, not being treated and forced smiles and social characters.

These deep personal trauma reflect wider trends in global and regional research. Studies from both high and middle -income countries say about 55 55 % of women suffer from symptoms of depression after abortion. About 27 % are suffering from paranoal grief. In many societies, the process of mourning is often misunderstood. In women with repeated abortion, the psychological effect is even more severe, which some studies show that there is a risk of more than 70 % of trouble, and can promote maximum clinical depression.

But only the number cannot take full weight of this discomfort. Abortion often becomes internal as a personal failure. Many women suffer from ideas like, “something wrong with me,” or “I have failed as a woman.” These beliefs are not born in isolation. They shape and strengthen the family, community elders, and even health care providers through fine and over messages.

This internal grief expands its weddings, self -thought and future parentalism. I have exposed the relationship with the joint grief, not because of the lack of love, which is unknown and unconscious. Couple is often grieving side by side, yet emotionally separate the world. Some women are urged to “go ahead” in a few days, as if their pain is suffering. Others have been quietly put aside, though their loss has reduced their value.

Outside the house, checking is often intensified. Extension families and communities often become an amplifier of grief, though unintentionally. The harmful story of “this was your fault” attributes abortion to a woman’s negligence, whether diet, activity, spiritual shortcomings, or even because of a bad eye. I am sitting with the women whose grief was rejected as superstition, their pain was silenced by religious tafs, or even worse, suffered an apathy. In many households, abortion is not damaged. A 2022 study states that 65 % of women who aborted are recommended to remain silent for fear of social decision. The message is clear: hide your grief, or risk the risk.

This culture of silence is a mirror in our institutions. Many systems often deepen the wounds to offer care. Pakistan suffers from one of the most newly new death rates globally. Nevertheless, in this context, abortion is often met with clinical detachment rather than sympathy. Women are reminded of the routine healthcarers to be cleaned, “this is God’s will” or “these things happen” like hollow assurances. Although it is probably satisfactory, such reactions are the right to sadde to women. They reinforce the notion that this pain is a lonely burden to be taken quietly. Mental health is largely absent from maternity care, unnecessary, urgent need.

If you have read yet, then you too have gone a little way with me in this silence. What we are facing is not just a personal tragedy-this is a systematic failure hidden in cultural silence. And yet, I am sure change is possible. I have seen her in the brave words of a mother who breaks her silence, in the compassion of a young doctor who chooses to sit down, not above.

We should follow the three major fronts to truly solve this crisis:

* First, we must make clinical competitions human. Healthcare professionals need training not only in medical care but also in traumatic communication. Instead of offering fitness, the suppliers should verify emotional discomfort and allow sorrow. “Your grief is real, and it makes a difference like a simple phrase can change the speed of healing. Allow sympathy to change the performance in the consulting room.

* Second, we have to renew the public statement. Abortion should be publicly recognized as a medical event-not a failure, not divine punishment. Through the media, mosque sermons, and community dialogues, we must eliminate harmful myths and replace them with sympathy and truth. Story steeling is a powerful tool television drama, talk shows, and editors can voice silent, challenging notoriety and understanding.

* Finally, we have to make mental health help. Psychological care should be integrated into maternity health services. Every woman who is experiencing abortion should have access to trained advisers through telephone health platforms, and through community settings. There are framework. What we need now is a collective desire and political commitment.

This is much more than health care. When a society learns to put a place for grief through grief, families that stand together instead of decisions, and a system that meets grief with support. We change how the damage is considered. And it all changes.

A meta -analysis of 43 studies in Pakistan has shown that 37 % of women suffer from pre -birth sadness (during pregnancy) 30 % of women suffer from post -birth sadness (after birth)

(Source: Etif El.

Globally, 10 % of pregnant women and 13 % of the postpartum women suffer from mental health impairment, mostly depression (WHO).

Nawal Nasir is a clinical psychologist and is a traumatic psychiatrist, a mental health organization, a psychiatric career, is the lead of community mental health in Cyvera.

As a member of the Pakistan Mental Health Coalition (PMHC), she heads the youth’s mental health subcommittee and advocates for equal, culturally responsive access to mental health care. The work of Nawal has been combined to empower medical skills, public advocacy, and lower levels, which strives to renovate mental health statements and promote social flexibility.