Suakoko, Bong County – Some pregnant women resident in Bong County have said they now go to bed on empty stomach, as they and their breadwinners are confined to their homes due the ongoing lockdown which the government has imposed to stem the spread of the COVID-19 in Liberia.

Report by Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com

This is a cause for concern, physicians say, as the situation may increase Liberia’s already high maternal and infant mortality rate.

FrontPageAfrica Tuesday spoke with some pregnant women, who claimed that they are going through tough time, even as they complain of restlessness, weakness and tiredness due to hunger.

A 32-year-old mother of two, who is pregnant with her third child, Mrs. Beatrice Kommeh, told our reporter that if she knew that things would be so difficult for her and her family this period, she would not have gotten pregnant.

The Bong housewife, who is five months pregnant, said the lockdown has denied her access to balanced diet as her husband, a painter, has been out of job since the lockdown began.

“We now feed from hand to mouth,” Beatrice says. “I manage to eat once a day. Breakfast and dinner are unaffordable; and even the food we manage to eat is mainly rice. The situation is making me restless.

 “The suffering is too much. I pray that hunger will not finish me with this pregnancy because, these days, I easily become tired and weak,” she says.

Another woman, Mrs. Nowai Kollie, 28, who is four months pregnant, says the lockdown has inflicted poverty on her family. The mother-of-three says she and her husband weren’t prepared for the lockdown.

“There was no food in the house when the government announced the first lockdown. While we were struggling to come out of it, the government extended it for 14 days. I almost fainted when I heard of it.

“I only managed to eat once a day now, and I’m tired of what I’m eating. “Today rice, tomorrow spaghetti, and the day after tomorrow hunger. What type of life is that?

“No money to buy fruit and vegetables that are good for pregnant women. Sometimes, when my body is shaking, my neighbors will tell me that it is hunger.

“Sometimes, they help me with food whenever hunger wants to kill me. My husband is a taxi driver and traffic not flowing like before.”

 “My pregnancy will be five months next week, yet we can’t make plans for antenatal registration and care because there is no money. The situation is biting harder,” she says.

“My husband sells second-hand clothing at Gbarnga market. But when the government announced the lockdown, it affected his business. I have been the one providing for the family through my petty business and now, the lockdown has swallowed it.”

Jessica Peters, a seven moths pregnant woman

I haven’t bought baby things

Mrs. Jessica Peters, 36, another pregnant woman, is seven months gone. “I struggle to feed twice daily, but the major problem is that I have not bought any baby things and there is no money!

“The little money that I saved for baby things was spent on food during the first lockdown; and my husband is currently unemployed.

“My husband sells second-hand clothing at Gbarnga market. But when the government announced the lockdown, it affected his business. I have been the one providing for the family through my petty business and now, the lockdown has swallowed it.”

New mother, Mrs. Esther Gorlormator, who delivered during the second phase of the lockdown, says life has become unbearable for her.

According to the 22-year-old new mum, feeding had been difficult before the delivery, and things are worse now.

“There is no money anywhere in my house. My husband is a marketer. Everywhere is in a lockdown. No market, no food.”

The story is the same with other pregnant women who spoke with FrontPageAfrica in Gbarnga, as they complain about hunger and lack of access to nutritious food during the lockdown.

Poor feeding affects pregnancy outcomes

A medical doctor at River Gee hospital, Aker Bleah, told FrontPageAfrica Tuesday via phone, “The health implications of poor feeding in pregnancy are poor weight gain in pregnancy, and deficiencies in micronutrient and macronutrient.”

“The results include anemia in pregnancy and intrauterine growth retardation; as babies tend to be born premature and with low birth weight.”

Bleah adds that preterm babies and babies who have low birth weight have the likelihood of dying in neonatal period than others. “This is because they have more infections, hypothermia, hypoglycemia, jaundice and feeding problems,” he says.

He notes that mortality and morbidity are higher among preterm and babies with low birth weight.

The doctor added, “My prayer is that women don’t die [while] trying to access maternity services because of this lockdown.”

Monrovia – A local non-governmental group, Serene Health for All Mobile Clinic (SHMC), is discouraging women of Liberia about giving birth at home or delivering at substandard midwives’ homes.

The Chief Executive Officer of Serene Mobile Clinic, Ms. Maima Quoi Pelham, said her organization is currently training over thirty-six General Community Health Volunteers to monitor over hundred pregnant women in the Caldwell-Louisiana area.

According to madam Pelham, the practice of giving birth home has increased birth complications for pregnant women.

“As an organization, we are working closely with the pregnant women, encouraging them to go to the health facilities [while] in their pregnancy. Our GCHVs will monitor them and make report to us on a monthly basis, we want to discourage pregnant women to stop delivering at home and go to the health facilities,” she noted. 

The program which is titled “My Baby, My Life”, intends to encourage pregnant women in the targeted communities to keep visiting health centers or hospitals.

Madam Pelham said the initiative is also intended to constantly check on pregnant women and encourage them to visit health facilities before they give birth.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Serene Health for All Mobile Clinics has however frowned on what she called home delivery by traditional mid-wife.

Madam Pelham said the Serene Health for All Mobile Clinic was established to help pregnant women get regular treatment to prevent complication.

She spoke with the FrontPageAfrica at the end of a one-day training for General community health volunteers and traditional midwife in the Township of Louisiana.

The workshop was sponsored by the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and EXX-Mobile.

Madam Pelham noted that the project will target one hundred pregnant women in the Louisiana Township.

The role of the General Community Health Volunteers (GCHVs) is to monitor and remind pregnant women to constantly visit the hospitals and encourage them to take their pills until delivery.

Madam Pelham said scratch cards and compensation will be provided for the GCHVs on a monthly basis, while pregnant women who are being monitor will receive a package upon delivery.

She explained that during the monitoring process, when a complicated case is observed, the SHMC will immediately intervene and recommend the patient to a better health facility and underwrite the cost.

Monrovia – Investigation conducted at maternal waiting homes in Liberia reveals that hunger remains a major challenge faced by pregnant women.

These homes were constructed as part of Liberia’s effort to strengthen its healthcare system. It’s hoped that these facility will help augment the fight against maternal mortality.

Liberia registers one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. 1,072 women die out of every 100,000 live deliveries.

So, the homes are among steps taken to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and other complications.

With the hope of depopulating home-delivery, maternal waiting homes themselves are not very populated due to many factors. They are only built closed to a health center.

For towns and communities without a health facility, pregnant women will either choose to deliver at homes, which many times come with huge risks; or walk many kilometres to reach the lone maternal waiting home available.

For those who muster the courage to come over to the waiting homes, challenges abound, particularly including lack of food.

The lack of feeding is significantly affecting, if not defeating this purpose because many pregnant women would rather prefer delivering home under risky circumstances than to withstand hunger.

According to the investigation I carried out at 4 maternal waiting homes in Bong County, pregnant women at these facilities spend their days without food or on a single meal that hardly comes by.

Because of distances and the rains, husbands and relatives of pregnant women hardly come to visit. This has been corroborated by a couple of similar investigations done by other health reporters; and confirmed by the health authority and partners.

Baby Tokpa is among seven other pregnant women currently at the Phebe maternal home in Suakoko waiting to deliver. Baby and the friends have to mobilize a cup of rice each plus fifty Liberia dollars to cook for the day.

The single meal is not sufficient for these women, especially in an environment where everything else is strange. Hunger, accompanied by a minimum hope of feeding further complicate existing complications these women face.

Baby carries a twin, one of whom is in transverse position. To delivery safely, she needs a caesarean operation. The man responsible for the pregnanc]y died from illness over nine months ago just when the girl got pregnant.

So, throughout these months, she has been fending for herself and unborn babies. Thanks to her mother, Mama Tokpa, who accompanied her to this maternal waiting home.

Both mother and daughter will have to contend with the harsh reality of living without a father to the unborn babies in the days, weeks, months and even years to come.

Viola Markor is a certified midwife attending to these pregnant women. She also serve as main coordinator of midwifes assigned at waiting homes in Bong. Viola confirms that lack of food is a serious challenge.

“The major problem we face here now is feeding. There is no food. These women have to put money and cups of rice together to be able to eat.

The last time the county health team helped us with eight bags of rice.

But that was not enough, even though we are grateful. Now, we are finding it difficult to cope without food. Some of them can’t even afford the one cup of rice and fifty Liberian dollars,” Viola says.

She wants support toward the direction in order to encourage more pregnant women to come over to the waiting homes so as to avoid home delivery.

The situation here is even better compared to other maternal waiting homes across the county. Here, there is farm of cassava, garden eggs, pepper that pregnant women can harvest to augment their feeding.

Bellemue and Zabay maternal waiting homes in Panta and Kpaii respectively, also have their own stories.

Yamah Kollie is the certified midwife at the Bellemue maternal waiting home and clinic. Despite the challenges here, she wears a smiling face; acknowledging to herself that her work is helping to save lives.

In Zabay town, story is disheartening. For a long time now, not a single pregnant woman has visited this facility. This is not because women here are not getting pregnant.

But they prefer staying home to deliver because the maternal waiting home cannot provide them food during their stay. Instead of staying or waiting to deliver, pregnant women just come in for check up at the clinic.

So, how come has food become the one sticky challenge for all these maternal waiting homes? Is this challenging going away anytime soon?

Well, no, at least not now; as I gathered from George Toe, senior primary healthcare coordinator at Africare, an international NGO that constructed these homes.

For Africare, providing feeding to pregnant women is not a sustainable way to run and maintain these valuable homes.

They were not built to provide feeding for pregnant women. He says no NGO is funding feeding as part of running the waiting home. So, the women are still the responsibility of their husbands and communities.

The Liberian government also thinks so. Chea Sanford Wesseh is Liberia’s assistant health minister for statistics.

At a training organized by Internews’ Information Saves Lives project in June held at Corina Hotel in Monrovia, Minister Chea said the intent of the waiting homes is to help pregnant women who are at the verge of delivery, but not to feed them. He maintained that the homes should be owned by communities they serve.

So, the message from the Liberian government and its partner, Africare, is clear. No provision of food for pregnant women at maternal waiting homes.