Hawa is a 21 year old Afar woman. We met her in her third pregnancy. She had had 2 stillborn infants in her first 2 pregnancies and did not know why.
She arrived at the BMF hospital in Mille, when she was about 30 weeks pregnant. She was seen in clinic and was found to have very high sugar levels in her blood. This hinted to the probable reason for the previous stillbirths. She then settled down and had a 6 week stay at the hospital. Her sugars were managed by diet alone, and with the care of the midwives, and some of her family members she managed to get to 37 weeks of pregnancy.
Understanding this to be a very precious baby there was much discussion regarding the mode of delivery for this baby, but Hawa was determined to have a vaginal delivery. She had a successful induction of labour and delivered a healthy male infant – much to the delight of Hawa and the staff. Seeing her contentment as her baby nuzzled on the breast, following education from the staff to feed often, to maintain blood sugar levels, her and her baby had an uneventful postnatal course.
This is such a fine example of the type of outcomes that can be achieved when woman with poor obstetric histories access the services now available to them at the hospital in Mille