There is a moment that Amelie Reimann's life divides into a before and an after.
A Sunday in November 2011 in a maternity hospital in Berlin, around 6 p.m.
She is expecting her first child.
The birth is initiated with the drug Cytotec because Reimann has little amniotic fluid.
She takes two doses, a total of 75 micrograms.
She goes into labor every two to three minutes, according to the birth record.
Now she should take a third dose.
The midwife holds a white chunk in front of her nose.
The quarter of a Cytotec tablet, divided by hand.
“But I'm already in labor,” says Reimann.
The midwife shrugs her shoulders.
The doctor ordered it that way.
Reimann swallows the chunk.
At this point in time, Amelie Reimann did not know that Cytotec was actually a gastric drug that was not approved for inducing childbirth.
She was not informed about it, as it should be.
Nor does she know that the drug should not be given during labor.
And above all, she doesn't know what the consequences of this can be in rare cases.