Pregnancy in the time of Ebola
As Ebola continues to infect and take lives across Sierra Leone, it is making daily life increasingly difficult. We spoke to Hawa, a 40 year old mum now going through her seventh pregnancy, about her fears and worries.
By Sahr Ngaujah, Communications Officer, World Vision Sierra Leone
Hawa is a 40-year-old mum of six living in eastern Sierra Leone. Her three daughters still living at home are all sponsored children with World Vision.
Hawa is eight months pregnant and she’s hoping for a boy this time around. Although she’s been through all this several times before, she’s afraid of how the birth might go during the current Ebola epidemic.
“My greatest fear is the Ebola situation in this country,” Hawa explained, adding, ‘‘pregnant women used to stay at the clinic for two to three days after delivery, so they were monitored in case of complications. Now women are sent home on the day they deliver. I have seen that happen here in my community and I am scared.”
Nurses and patients also treat each other with caution. “I am personally scared of nurses. You don’t know whether the nurse treating you has also contracted Ebola,’’ Hawa described.
On top of her concerns regarding the actual birth, Hawa also isn’t sure how she will provide for her new arrival when it’s born.
As a petty trader, she normally spends her days selling onions, pepper, pumpkin, salt and other food items. However, since the Ebola outbreak her business has suffered. “I was engaged in the business of selling food stuffs like popcorn and other fast foods. But we have reached a point where people are afraid to buy food from us. Sales are very difficult, let alone making profit. And it is out of this petty trade that I depend to pay my children’s school fees," she said.
Hawa’s eldest daughter, 12-year-old Marian, is tired of hearing about Ebola. “I am tired of Ebola. Everywhere you go you hear the name Ebola. This same Ebola is responsible for my being at home now, when I should be in school. Before now, we used to have enough at home. But things are not the way they used to be because of Ebola. It is also making things difficult for my mother and her pregnancy,” she said.
Even before the epidemic, Sierra Leone had been named one of the worst places in the world for women to give birth. Ebola is likely to make things even worse.
World Vision has been working with government health clinics to ensure that mothers and young children receive the care they need. Hawa’s community hospital and health units were among those who recently benefited from donations of obstetric kit and equipment.
World Vision is also working to combat Ebola in Sierra Leone through our Ebola Crisis Appeal.