It is important for pregnant mothers not to miss antenatal appointments. It is also very important for them to see their midwives, especially in a country where midwives are functioning well. Midwives are specialists in delivering vaginal birth. However, if the pregnancy is eventful and challenging, it is expedient for the pregnant mother to see both midwife and obstetrician, popularly called Doctor.
Pregnant women should not see Cesarean Section as a taboo and start praying against it as it is in practice, mostly, in Africa. C-section is meant to save mother and babies when there are events beyond asking for vaginal birth due to complications such as big baby, malpresentation, breech, placental preavia, multiple pregnancies with 1st baby presenting as breech or both as breech, fetal compromising issues arising in labour can lead to emergency C-section, other maternal issues may warrant elective c-section, among others.
Pregnant women should stop praying against C-section, if they need it, they need it. On the other hand, they should stop asking for C-section if they do not need it when the pregnancies are uneventful and they can birth vaginally.
Midwives are or should be there to support and guide pregnant women through the labour position to facilitate vaginal birth. A very active, mobile and upright woman will deliver her baby vaginally.
Normal birth is an individual event. Vaginal birth is normal and the C-section is normal; none is abnormal. Each is normal to what normality means to an individual woman. A case of complication will have C-section as normal because of no other choice or else any delay would be regretted. So, it is the normal birth for that case.
On this note, stop calling one normal and another abnormal. Stop the stigma, and let us save lives.
African women refuse C-section, not only because of cost but because of family or husband bullying and stigma of making them feel they are not woman enough to push the baby out vaginally.
Women are dying in labour and we are losing babies that we could have saved if consent to C-section were not delayed.
While most C-sections have been reviewed and found, some were unnecessary; we also appraise the one done to save lives positively.
Written based on current evidence-based research from WHO to support mothers in Africa.
*This piece was sent in from the UK by Abimbola. F. Lahore, BSc.Nursing and Midwifery (UK NMC Licenced RN, RM & Teacher), MSc. Int. Public Health.
