Stigma Around Cesarean Section in My Country
Oct 7, 2023
Story
Seeking
Encouragement
Linda
May 8
Joined Sep 3, 2023
I was born and brought up in Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa. It is a third world country so, as you can imagine, a lot of its populace is living below the poverty line. Standard of living in some areas especially the North is very low, and a lot of people are living in poverty.
Nigerians are a beautiful people. There are about 250 different cultures in Nigeria so there is a variety of people and thinking. But there are few things that are fairly the same across the country despite the locality and one of those is the need for childbearing and continuation of the lineage.
No matter her tribe or who she is, every woman is expected to bear children. This role of childbearing is so important to Nigerians that most of the time childless women beyond a certain age are made a caricature of whether or not she is married. To most Nigerians this is the primary assignment of a woman on earth.
Most Nigerians, due to the economic hardship prevalent in the country, do not have access to good health care. Hospitals mostly in rural areas are under equipped and this makes administration of health care very difficult if not impossible.
Cesarean section (CS) is a surgical procedure performed on a woman unable to have vaginal birth for any reason. This procedure is, however, not fully accessible to most Nigerian hence a high rate of maternal and infant mortality during childbirth. Due to the poverty level of many Nigerians, even in regions where such health care can be accessed the cost tends to drive the mothers to take their chances with vaginal birth. Some of them do not even have access of cannot afford pre-natal care for themselves. Some of them even go to have their babies delivered by local midwives who still use crude methods and tools or half-trained individuals who mostly have no solutions should any complications arise.
Apart from the financial constraints, CS is still frowned upon for another reason. Nigeria is a very religious country, the 3 main religions being Christianity, Islam and African traditional religion. Due to their very religious nature a lot of Nigerians see any complications during pregnancy as some sort of punishment from God or a curse upon the woman and/or her child. Due to ignorance peddled by most religious leaders, a lot of women consider delivery through cesarean section a taboo and reject or pray against it.
You hear questions like, "Did she have a safe delivery, or did she give birth by operation", forgetting that a safe delivery is a delivery in which both mother and child are hale and hearty. Among the Christians you can hear the pregnant women say things like, "CS is not my portion", and when the health officials suggest it, they refer to it as 'the devil being at work' in their lives. Their husbands are not exempt from this behaviour, they 'reject it for their wives and also see it as the work of the devil.
There are numerous instances where women, or their babies, or both have lost their lives due to rejection of this procedure. A woman at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) rejected this procedure and refused to get admitted in preparation for the surgery. Some weeks later she was rushed in after having lost a lot of blood and almost dying after a midwife had tried to help her deliver 'normally'. The dreaded procedure was still carried out but the baby was dead by then. Another story has it that a woman's husband refused the surgery for his wife and she and her baby died. Said man just remarried and continued living his life, leaving the woman's family and friends to morn her death.
The instances are too numerous to be counted. Some Christian sects even forbid all kind of medical attention and procedure stating that God is the Master Healer and no human can treat them.
Mortality during childbirth is very high in third world countries like NIgeria. Som measures can be put in place to stop this vice as women and children are at risk. Health care should made available to the citizens especially by the government. The cost of health care should be subsidized to ensure that even the poor can access it when needed.
Public education efforts should be increased in this area. There should be mass education so as to make the populace aware of the right thing and remove the stigma surrounding this procedure in order to increase the quality of life of both mother infant.
Everyone has a role to play to put an end to this stigma. WE should stop all misinformation surrounding this procedure anytime we come across it. We should encourage pregnant women around us to get pre-natal care by making them understand the importance of this.
Nigeria still has a long way to go in thus area but with more effort a lot of changes can be made
God bless Nigeria.