A hospital in Zimbabwe charged women $5 for each scream during childbirth

Corruption is so systemic in Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s poorest
countries, that a local hospital charges mothers-to-be $5 every
time they scream while giving birth. That’s according to an
extensive new report from Transparency International on
corruption around the world, which also notes that a staggering
62 percent of Zimbabweans say they’ve paid a bribe in the past
year.
The $5 hospital screaming fee, purportedly a charge for “raising
false alarm” but clearly aimed at separating mothers from their
money, is no joke. Gross domestic product per capita is only $500
in Zimbabwe; average annual income per person is about $150.
Zimbabwean hospitals also charge a $50 delivery fee. This means
that, in a country where underemployment is 95 percent and
poverty is rife, a mother who screams a few times during
delivery might owe half her annual income after giving birth.
According to a follow-up by Transparency International, women
who can’t afford the high fees are sometimes detained at the
hospital and charged interest until their family can pay up. As a
result, many Zimbabwean mothers give birth at home because
they can’t afford the charges. The United Nations reports that, on
average, eight mothers die during childbirth every single day in
Zimbabwe.
Transparency International says its Zimbabwe office contacted
the national health ministry about the issue by sending, as such
offices often require, a formal letter. The health ministry said it
had received the letter, then apparently did nothing, and when
the NGO followed up an official told the organization that they
had lost the letter. Finally, a member of Transparency
International was able to meet with Zimbabwe’s deputy prime
minister, who promised to look into. Since then, the NGO says,
it’s heard no more complaints about screaming charges -
although the $50 delivery charge, impossibly expensive for many
in Zimbabwe, remains.