By Moma Sandrine
Some pregnant women in Cameroon’s North West Region have decried the unending curfew ordered by Governor Adolf Lele L’Afrique when the Anglophone crisis metamorphosed into an armed rebellion.
“I fear for what may befall me should I start to labour after 9pm. How do I transport myself to the hospital?” a pregnant woman wondered aloud as she explains the ordeal pregnant women go through after 9:00pm.
Others narrated the experience they had as they were caught in labor pains after 9pm. “It was at about 9:30pm that I started feeling some sharp pains around my waist. I realized it could be labour pains. In that confusion I wondered what to do next. As I was packing my emergency bag, it dawned on me that I had a friend who works at the regional hospital. This friend helped me call the ambulance. That is how I managed to reach the hospital safely. I was lucky because I had the connection. I wonder what happens to other women trapped in such a condition,“ Emelda, a nursing mother told The SUN.
Another lady who had just been delivered of a baby girl recounted her own experience to this reporter: “I started experiencing labour pains at about 11:00pm so I woke my mother to take me to the hospital. Since it was within curfew hours, my mother took me to a nearby clinic. When we got there, the nurses couldn’t handle my case properly so we were left with no choice than to go to the general hospital. My mother, landlady and my brother accompanied me to the general hospital from Nacho quarter. Since neither cars nor bike ply the streets after 9:00pm, we had to trek to the hospital. Even with the pains I had no choice than cover the distance on foot. As we approached the hospital, we were stopped by some military officers just some few meters before the maternity gate. We were asked to stop and carry our hands up, which we obeyed. We were then asked where we were going to. We told them we were heading for the maternity. They later asked us why we had to go only at that hour. I told them the labor pains were unbearable. They later asked us to run and get out of their sight. We then hurried and got to the hospital and I was delivered of my baby an hour later. It was a stressful and terrifying experience, I must say.”
The SUN equally gathered that a lady almost put to birth at home because she was waiting for the time to clock 6am before she could go to the hospital. Some nurses said that they had received cases where women get complications because they laboured for several hours before rushing to the hospital for proper check up.
These are just a few among many other women who recounted to The SUN their labor experience during curfew hours. According to most of them, the curfew should be uplifted for their sake because labor pains most often start at night. To them, it will be a great relief if the curfew placed on the North West Region is uplifted.
The curfew was placed by North West Governor on February 10 following several killings of military officers and civilians coupled with kidnaps of government officials in the region. Since then it has been renewed indefinitely.