I just talked to a pregnant lady (that I like very much). She said she's feeling very tired lately, and I asked if she was taking Iron. To me, obviously a rhetorical question as she was 5 months pregnant. Who in their right mind wouldn't take Iron while pregnant? I mean, even 3rd world hospitals can afford to give this information to patients!!!
But when she answered, I proceeded to question her further, and that's when I realized she wasn't on Iron. She wasn't even on Folate, a vitamin important for the proper formation of the fetus' spinal cord amongst other parts of the body. In fact, she was on NOTHING!!! Didn't get an ultrasound, didn't have any tests done. Wasn't followed by a gynecologist.
I looked at the young lady, trying to understand what could cause such negligence. And I got SO MAD! Yes, mad...when I thought of her unborn baby. How could a mother be so negligent? I was having flashes of pictures of children with spinal malformations-spina bifida, meningoceles, etc, all of these so easily prevented by pregnant women taking Folate vitamins. And that's the least we can do for our kids because when they're born looking like aliens then the implications are everlasting. And yes, I got even madder when I thought about the things that I now knew; what about the things I didn't? Do you even watch what you eat? Drink? Have you stopped drinking alcohol? Madddeeeerrrrrr!
But then I decided to breathe, then looked again at the young lady. Needless to say she was feeling uneasy because her answer to all my questions so far had been no.
"You have to watch over your baby. Whatever you eat it eats. Whatever you drink it drinks. Your blood is its blood because everything it gets comes from you"I needed her to realize that her fetus was defenceless, and needed much more than being carried around in an immobile sack. I needed her to realize that she must take her vitamins and visit a gynecologist as soon as possible.
She was very receptive, and after leaving, I was left with the same question: what could cause such negligence? Could it be ignorance? Having stopped school at an early age, I knew this was plausible. Could it be lack of means to afford health care? Or could it be simply our culture (Cameroon) where we go see a doctor only when things are out of control?
I think it was a combination of all these, and I realized that I shouldn't have been quick to judge her like I did.
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