LIFE AS A PREGO
Week 8!
I had severe malaria. I heard that having malaria during pregnancy is not good for the baby’s health and development in the womb.
Malaria is an illness which is very rampant in West Africa, it is majorly caused by mosquito bites.
Pinkbeee writes ✍️
Me
I went to the pharmacy to buy some drugs (self medication) I told the pharmacist that he should please give me malaria drugs for pregnant women.
The pharmacist asked me if I was pregnant and I said yes, he called me into his office and sat me down. Then he started to inform me that it was actually wrong for me to self medicate.
He said he will not give me any drugs and that the only drugs I could take for the moment was paracetamol.
The pharmacist later questioned me if I have registered for antenatal at a primary health center. I said no, he informed me that I was supposed to register for antenatal the moment I found out I was pregnant.
Pharmacist went on to educate me that registration for antenatal will help me so that anytime I have any health related complain, I will be examined properly at the health center and given proper counsel and treatment. He encouraged me to go and register for antenatal and I agreed.
That night, I went back home feeling very sick and unable to get treated. I sheivered all night with severe fever and a pounding headache, I also lost appetite for food.
I forced myself to go to bed and I didn't know when I eventually muttered some prayers and slept off.
NEXT MORNING 🌞
I woke up feeling better and energized, I did not take any drugs, I just started getting better.
I traveled to an international market in Aba to buy goods (footwears and clothes) which I will sell. I came back from the market and I began to feel dizzy.
I started developing UTI and I didn't know who to tell because I wasn't financially ready to visit the health center after hearing all the amounts of payments people make there during every visit and for each drugs.
POV
when I discovered I was pregnant, I never informed my mum, because I felt she will not be happy. Being that over here in this part of the world where I come from, getting pregnant outside wedlock, most especially where the impregnator wasn't ready for the pregnancy and the responsibilities that comes with it, always seem like a forbidden thing.
I know I am a self made child, that is to say, I struggle alone and fend for myself without parental support or care. But I had always feared my parents opinion and thoughts.
Back to story
I summed up the courage to put a call across to my mum and informed her of my situation, she advised I come to the village so that she will mix some leaves for me to do enema (this is a process where one, pounds some roots or herbs and squeezes the juice out if it and uses a container which has a pipe to pass it through the anus. The extract of the herbs or root goes down through the pipe into the anus and enters the stomach)
To be continued…. See you in NEXT EPISODE