For pregnant women and nursing mothers to be able to take proper care of themselves and their babies, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) allows them to register with the scheme, take an exeat from the camp and go home during the first three weeks of mobilisation. But some still choose to go through the rigours, raising curious questions in the process. Medinat Kanabe reports.
The walked into the NYSC camp looking pale and tired. She held a baby in one hand, and a handbag and another bag containing baby things in the other.
For the purpose of this story, let’s call her Mrs Stubborn. She walked so slowly that anyone could tell that her body was going through a lot of pain. In a nutshell, she stood out like a sore-thumb amongst the thousands of corps members walking smartly in the camp.
One of the camp officials who noticed her demeanour, walked up to her to question her about her health.
Speaking to The Nation, the official said she was moved to tears by her plight. “I pitied her and advised her not to return until she was better. She was already nine months gone when her name came out for the service and it was something she had always wanted to experience, so she prepared to come to camp nevertheless. But she didn’t know that she would undergo a Caesarean Section, which was one of the things that aggravated her health condition. She also didn’t defy the service as she came to camp for registration.
“She underwent the CS a week before camp would close and then left the hospital for camp. Worst of all, she travelled all the way from Kaduna to Lagos on road with a week old baby and an unhealthy body.
“I had to help her hold her baby, give her a place to sit and assist her with her registration so that she could finish early, collect her exeat and leave camp to rest,” the official said.
Mrs Stubborn’s story is something that could have been prevented. All she needed to do was ignore the call to service and visit her school for another posting whenever her baby was old enough and she strong enough to participate in the service, just like her colleague Nojeeb Salamot.
Salamot is a graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State. She got her posting letter when her baby was 7 months old but that was the second according to her. “I was supposed to go (for service) last year but I was pregnant, so I decided to stay back and have my child and wait for him to be a bit older before coming in.
“Even as a 7 month-old baby, it isn’t easy taking him with me to camp for clearance and other activities that are compulsory, but I try my best. Sometimes I pity him because of the sun that we stay in for hours before being attended to. My son is a quiet boy, so he doesn’t cry like other children that we meet in camp. He only cries when the weather is too hot for him,” she said.
Salamot knew that she could go for her youth service anytime without going through much stress from NYSC or her school, as it doesn’t involve any form of stress. She also knew how important it was for her and her baby to be very strong, before she could enjoy her service year.
Another corps member, Chima Christiana Ifeanyi, a graduate of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra State said her baby was four months old when she was cleared to serve in Lagos.
“My husband works in Lagos, so it wasn’t a problem for me, except that we live in Ajah and the camp is in Iyana-Ipaja. I have to take the baby with me every time I am coming to the camp, all the way from Ajah and it is not easy. I pity other corps members who bring little babies to camp. I would have deferred if my baby was not up to four months.”
For Joy Abehi whose baby was about 3 weeks old when she was called to camp, her happiness knew no bounds, especially since she escaped posting in stream one when she was still pregnant.”
“I schooled in Kogi State University, Ayingba, so I had to travel down to Lagos so I can deliver here and serve too. But I take my baby with me whenever I have to go to camp for clearance. It is stressful, but we are given special attention as nursing mothers.
Asked if her baby isn’t still too little to be brought out of the comfort of her home to a place like the NYSC camp, she said: “I don’t think so. NYSC has done enough by exempting us from camp; the rest is left to us.”
She called on organisations to be considerate in absorbing nursing mothers, saying they can work even better than the single ones.
Peju Oyediran whose baby was 3 months old when she was cleared for service said she had prepared for the service, so she didn’t feel stressed. She however added that the registration exercise was a bit cumbersome and that “it became overwhelming at some point.”
The graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife said: “It has not been easy but because it is necessary, I have to go and do the basic things that requires me to visit the camp and that means taking my baby along to camp.
Getting the NYSC management to comment on why they still allow pregnant and nursing mothers to participate in the scheme was a bit difficult, but its Lagos State coordinator, Mr Akhanemhe Cyril explained that: “When pregnant and nursing mothers register, they are asked to take exeat and go home to take care of themselves and their babies. The next time we want to see them is when they come to pick their posting letters. We don’t expect that they come here every day.
“The NYSC management has made it clear that they come and take exeat and go home. So it is a policy that they don’t bring babies to camp. Those that cannot come for their letters immediately can come to the secretariat to pick up their posting letters or allowances.”
For the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Olawunmi Johnson who answered only the question on the rejection of pregnant women and nursing mothers at their place of primary assignment, “It is against any rule for an organisation not to absorb pregnant women, except if the nature of work is not what a pregnant woman can do. If not, it will amount to discrimination if a pregnant corps member is rejected in her place of primary assignment just because she is pregnant.”
Medical doctors’ position
Dr Ibeauchi Chinasa, a doctor with a private hospital in Lekki who spoke to The Nation said a patient who delivered through a Caesarean Section in just about a week is supposed to be in the hospital recuperating.
He said one of the reasons women go through CS is because of obstructed labour. After the obstructed labour, the woman is expected to be on urethra catheter for about 10 days for her to heal well because during the obstructed labour, the baby would have pressed against her bladder for a long time. If it is removed before the 10 days, the bladder may become weak and then rupture; and this may cause urine to enter her abdomen. Therefore such a woman is not fit to travel.
As for the baby, Ibeauchi said the first 28 days of their life is the most vulnerable time of their life. At this time, the bulk of their body is water; that is why they usually lose weight during the first 10 days because they will lose some of the water. Because of this, they need to relax very well and take a lot of breast milk.
A mother who is travelling or participating in such a scheme cannot achieve this for her baby. Instead, the baby could easily get infected with different infections, as their immune system is very low.
Their liver too is still very weak, so they are prone to bleeding. So the mother has to be very careful, mind her hygiene and watch what goes into the baby.
One of the things that are feared most during this time in a baby’s life is exposure to infections, which can lead to neonatal jaundice – discolouring of the eyes and skin.
“Jaundice, Ibeauchi said, “can damage a part of the brain, causing the baby to become a vegetable all his life. I think nursing mothers should be exempted from the NYSC scheme until their babies are a bit stronger, say five months.
