In the 1990s, government health workers went from door to door to coax, cajole and bully women in a farming community in Peru's highlands to come with them for free medical treatment.

Esperanza Huayama, then three months pregnant, was one of scores of women who clambered onto buses that morning 20 years ago for the three-hour ride to a clinic.

Lying in a hospital bed, Huayama soon realized something was wrong — but it was too late. Moments later, doctors administered anesthetic.