By: Lisa T. Diasay

IPNews-Paynesville: “I got in pain at 2am. We walked for 30-45 minutes finding means to get car or help to take me to hospital for safe delivery but no one could help us, out of fear of the Lockdown time that security would bother them”, Susan Davis explained.

Amid the State of Emergency measures to ensure the lockdown and other health protocols are observed, many pregnant women are faced with difficulty in accessing facilities before and after the 3pm mandate.

Liberia has recorded 189 cases of the virus with 15 deaths and 86 recoveries.
Study shows that Maternal and Infants mortality during outbreaks are risked high, due to the unavailability of proper healthcare services.

As it stands, in Liberia, the process getting treatment and secure health services for both the infants and mothers seem straining as health facilities have cut down patients intake in the wake of observing social distancing during the CoVID 19 pandemic.

Delivery after the 3pm mandate are becoming a matter of concern for pregnant women especially with the unavailability of ambulances at some facilities within the community.

Susan Davis, age 24, is among many pregnant women who by the grace of God almost lost her baby and herself recently in Paynesville, District 4, Montserrado County.

Susan had given up when her water bag (liquid) burst while walking to find vehicle to take her to the hospital to give birth.

” After walking long, I was tire, and the pain was intensifying, we reached at Shara Community Clinic, we knocked, no one open the door, we walked and reached at Meekie Gray junction, we couldn’t find car nor motorcycle to take me, at this time I was hoping on God”, Susan said.

She was only hoping to get help in order to reach the duport road clinic before things become complicated.

According to her, during that painful journey, her sister had been making calls for help to come in order to safe her and the unborn child, luckily, after the last refusal by a vehicle owner, help had come to them.

“The man requested for us to buy him gas, we agreed later he started complaining that the police will catch him because he doesn’t have pass and it was late for him to leave his home, this was my last hope until my sister friend came with a car”, she averred.

Susan’s hurdles to brining forth a handsome baby boy was a nightmare that she never expected would have happened when the news of CoVID 19 pandemic hit Liberia.

” We got at duport road clinic around 5am in the morning, my son was already on it’s way and the doctors said I was on time if not something else would have happened. He came healthy and with God help there was no major complication.”

Susan got disappointed at nurses at the duport road facility for not giving her the full attention and medication as prescribed for cases of after delivery pain and other issues.

“They were even angry while I didn’t bring my material for delivery, later they didn’t give me any medicine but rather wrote the medicine on a sheet of paper for me to buy’.

She stressed that the economy is hard and most people including her fiancee are not working to afford those basic materials for delivery.

At the moment like, Susan is concerned about other pregnant who may be exposed to much danger than hers as in the case of delivery.

” The government needs to ensure during this coronavirus time that ambulances are patrolled throughout the communities to help people who may be in pain for safe delivery, if not women and their babies might died in the process.”

Like Susan said, Marthalyne Kabieh age 35 of Paynesville, is worried that she might endure situations of losing her baby during this period of coronavirus, especially if delivery is after the 3pm mandate.

” I am worried as to where I will give birth and how I will manage because everyone is afraid of the virus, the nurses at the hospital don’t even touch us when we go for check-up, so myself scary.”

Marthalyne is also a mother of 4 Children. She explains that the current pregnancy is creating complications by the day and she fears that during delivery there might be more.

Due to her fears of losing the baby and herself or contacting the virus, she currently seeks advise from a community midwife in an apparent means to stay away from the health facilities which she believes, could be very far to help her during delivery and also keep safe.

” I trust that oldma (midwife). Since the virus time, I went to the clinic (Duport Road Clinic) 3times and they refused me 2times based on the number of patient per day and since then, the midwife has been treating me, because myself afraid for the virus.”

Marthalyne is currently a month away from delivery and she hopes that Government will put in place measures to help pregnant women access treatment and safe delivery during these CoVID 19 periods.

The pandemic has made facilities instituting measures that will keep both patients and nurses safe from coVID-19