Pregnancies should be celebrated not treated as strange -President Granger

As pregnant NCN News Anchor, Natasha Smith, returns to the airwaves of the state broadcaster on Wednesday evening, President David Granger has made it clear that women going through a pregnancy should not be treated as if it is something strange.

Smith had been removed from the anchor’s chair as her baby bump started to show. NCN management at first instructed the cameramen to ensure the shots of her were from her breast up. When she complained about the close shots, the NCN Chief Executive Officer recommended that she be taken off the air.

The move saw widespread criticism and a protest by the Guyana Press Association. An apology was issued to Smith by the Human Resources Manager of the company and she is now expected to resume her duties as news anchor tonight.

Today, President Granger offered his personal view on the issue and said “As far as pregnancy is concerned, that is a normal function of mothers, you cannot have children without being pregnant. So we start to accept pregnancy as something very normal and don’t regard it as a strange or unusual occurrence.”

Mr. Granger went on to state that that “I don’t mind seeing a pregnant air stewardess or a pregnant waitress in the restaurant. Pregnancy is normal so let us celebrate it be grateful that we have pregnant women. That’s my position. And I don’t mind if she is on the screen or on the radio; why not?”

Last year the Georgetown City Council came under heavy criticism after it fired two constables when they became pregnant. Both women were reinstated as citizens across the country expressed outrage.