Although Monica believes in prayer, she also believes it is safe to be delivered of her baby in the hospital. But when one of the two is missing, she knows she is at the risk of losing her life.
Monica Seriki is a mother of five, and a trader in Garki, Abuja. I met her at a forum where health workers and women groups came together to discuss issues on pregnant women’s access to health care and safe motherhood.Although Monica had her chance to comment, later, her side talks distracted me and I wanted to know what she was unhappy about. Monica told me of how she was into family planning, and how she decided that her fifth pregnancy would be her last. During that last pregnancy, she said she started attending antenatal care from the third month, because, from her experience, she knew the benefits of such care to her life and that of her unborn child.‘The distance from my house to the hospital was about 30 minutes drive, but we would have left home around 2-3am to go queue up. If you came any time later, you would be lucky to be attended to because there would be such a big crowd. But I attended antenatal care regularly,’ Monica said.When Monica fell into in labour, she went to the hospital in the company of her neighbour. As usual, it was a big crowd of women with protruding tummies waiting for a midwife’s attention.Antenatal ‘un-care’ attendants‘I called one of the nurses but she shouted at me that “madam, stay like this. People plenty, wetin you wan make I do?” I was in great pains but the nurse had to shout at me.’After a long wait in pains and without getting attention from any of the nurses, Monica resorted to prayers. She told God to help her deliver safely if the pregnancy came from Him.‘But that would be the normal prayer of any pregnant woman or her family’, I told Monica. She agreed, but told me that the meaning of her prayer was for God to save her and the unborn baby because she was going back home!‘I told my neighbour that I wanted to leave. I wanted to go home, hoping that God would deliver me because there was no one to attend to me,’ she said.Inevitable risk‘Few moments after I got home,’ she continued, ‘I felt the baby was coming. So I quickly prepared the floor and just knelt there. Then the baby came out.‘I started bleeding, and I didn't know how to cut the umbilical cord, so I took the baby aside to prevent blood from covering it. ‘My neighbour had gone to call a woman who lived close to our house for help. The woman came and asked me to start taking deep breaths. I started, and the placenta came out. The woman cut the umbilical cord and carried the baby. That was how God helped me to deliver.’More pregnant women face similar fateMonica had three years spacing between her four children and ten years space for her fifth. By then, according to her, a lot had changed.‘There are more pregnant women out there now. It wasn’t like that when I started and I pity these new mothers because there is too much crowd in the hospitals with few nurses who will just be shouting at them.’In Nigeria, about 33% of pregnant women do not access healthcare because they are concerned that they would not be attended to (Nigeria DHS 2008 /p.138).‘They blame pregnant women for not coming to the hospital, but the women are not well attended to when they go. What if God did not help me? I could have died from my bleeding after the baby came out.’ Monica said.Just like she did during the forum, Monica used the opportunity of our interaction to beg the government to employ more nurses and midwives to help pregnant women. She also wanted midwives to watch their uncaring attitudes toward pregnant women.She said ‘I have now stopped giving birth but I pity the new mothers out there. I hope that the government could help them.’