ZAGREB, October 15, 2018 - Representatives of the Roda parent association on Monday presented the Health Ministry with the testimonies of 400 women with unpleasant experiences in Croatian hospitals. "We bring you the testimonies of 400 women who have experienced some form of violent and painful treatment before, after or during labour," Daniela Drandic of the Roda association told the press outside the Health Ministry.

Minister Milan Kujundžić said on Thursday there were no such cases in Croatia. We have gathered the testimonies of 400 women who claim otherwise, Dranić said. "This is the truth, these are the stories of 400 women who came to us in only two and a half days, this is not the first time we speak about this, but I hope it is the last and that you will do something about it," Drandić said.

The campaign aimed at collecting the testimonies of women who had unpleasant experiences in Croatian hospital was prompted by a statement by MOST MP Ivana Ninčević Lesardić who complained to Minister Kujundžić about the treatment she received at an emergency ward where she recently ended up because of a miscarriage.

She said that the conditions in which she received treatment resembled those from the 15th century and that she had curettage performed on her without any anaesthetic.

"Those were the worst 30 minutes in my life. That's what each of the thousands of women who have signed the petition went through. Do you intend to change this and when," she asked, to which Kujundžić said that he regretted her having lost her child and would seek medical documentation to check what the case was about, adding that he had not heard of the petition she mentioned.

Minister Kujundžić said on Monday that his ministry would check the testimonies by 400 women who have reported negative experiences with hospital treatment that were handed to him earlier in the day by representatives of the Roda parent association, and that all irregularities would be sanctioned.

"We take objections into account and will check all the information. Children are what the Croatian state and nation need the most, and we will do our best to protect pregnant women and children. Any irregularity will be sanctioned, we will not protect anyone," Kujundžić told reporters after meeting with representatives of the Roda association.

He said that the results of an inspection to be carried out in hospitals would be made public in 10-20 days.

Kujundžić called on pregnant women and other patients to report unlawful practices, adding that the inspection would start as soon as the ministry obtained the names of the hospitals, doctors and practices to which the complaints referred and that inspections would also be conducted based on anonymous reports.

"Changes can't happen overnight, but I believe that together we can change things systematically if all irregularities that happen are sanctioned," he said.

Commenting on the case of MOST MP Lesandrić, Kujundžić said that medical workers, too, may make inappropriate statements or act inappropriately, and that that should be sanctioned.

The head of the Split Hospital's women's clinic, Deni Karelović, last week dismissed MP Ninčevic Lesandrić's statement about having undergone curettage without anaesthesia, saying that the procedure in question was vacuum aspiration, and that every patient undergoing it was offered local or general anaesthesia.

Daniela Drandić of Roda said that a new meeting with the minister would be held in about ten days. She said that the Roda delegation also informed Kujundžić that pregnancy check-ups were being unlawfully charged. "The minister said that that was unacceptable and that something should be done to prevent it," Drandić said.