COVID-19: Pregnant women recount their plight under the pandemic, by Nkasire Apollos Ivo
COVID-19: Pregnant women recount their plight under the pandemic, by Nkasire Apollos Ivo
COVID-19: Pregnant women recount their plight under the pandemic, by Nkasire Apollos Ivo
Coronavirus (COVID-19), pandemic since inception has infected millions of individuals across the globe, its adverse effects pose threat to both the physical, mental, economic, social health and well-being of the people either directly or indirectly.
During the pandemic, different women have different stories to tell regarding their plight and how they survived through the scourge of the dreaded virus.
In an interview with some pregnant women in Gombe state, they recounted their ordeal during the first phase of the pandemic lamenting that access to healthcare services, good diets and nutrients as well as resources to carter for their daily needs at home and hospital have affected their condition.
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Narrating their stories, Jamila Musa who said she was hypotensive due to lack of nutrients and good diets required of a pregnant woman, added that restriction of movement, hike in market prices also made it difficult for her family to get such needs from the market and Ramatu Yahaya also said there is delay in accessing healthcare services unlike before the pandemic, their dietary needs, means of visiting the hospital due to restriction of movement and social distancing, adding that the time frame allotted to them for checkup and antenatal is no longer enough because hospitals do not want overcrowding and they sometimes go back home unattended to.
They both lamented how they were unable to access palliatives donated by government and other Non-Governmental organizations to cushion effects of the pandemic.
In their separate remarks, Hauwa’u Haruna who said she got the palliative still appealed to the government to reach out to other pregnant women, saying they really need assistance because it will go a long way.
While Suleiman Shua’ibu, who revealed that he takes his wife for antenatal in order to learn about the basic needs of pregnant women and their unborn babies said delay in the antenatal processes due to adherence to COVID-19 protocols affected the responsibilities of their wives in taking care of the family, adding that the only help they received was feeding of their wives during checkup and admission as well as free drugs from the hospital.
He further said hike in prices of goods under the pandemic was also a challenge owing to the fact that movements were restricted, they find it difficult to get the dietary needs of their wives and unborn babies, and even the children at home get little or nothing at all to feed on.
He called on the government to extend their gestures by reaching out to the vulnerable in the society who have not tasted the dividends of democracy especially in this time of covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, some of the staff of the Primary Healthcare Center, Kumo in Akko local government gave their experiences with the pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The officer in charge, PHC Kumo, Aishatu Tukur and some of the staff , Abubakar Muhammad as well as Binta Bello said getting the pregnant women to adhere to COVID-19 protocols was a challenge, adding that they always sensitise them on its effects while giving them priority and preferential treatment during checkup.
They also advised the women everyone to adhere to the protocols and take all sensitations seriously because COVID-19 is real.
Meanwhile, Participatory Communication For Gender Development, PAGED Initiative supported by EU and FreePress Unlimited has recently organized a COVID-19 Media Response Workshop tagged” COVID-19 Response: Together for Reliable Information, in a bid to reach out to such pregnant women as well as the poor and vulnerable, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the society to bring to fore challenges encountered and to advocate necessary support for them and their families.
