Pregnancy in the village, or at least my compound

As I mentioned, several of my sisters in the village are pregnant so this is a constant topic of conversation (not necessarily among them, but I bring it up...).

One sister (Diboor) is in her 7th or 8th month and hadn't yet been in for a prenatal consultation (not the fancy American ones, or anywhere near that) b/c her husband (Lamine) didn't yet have any money for it. Annoyed with Lamine but not wanting Diboor (his 2nd wife) or the baby to suffer his irresponsibility, I gave her the money to go. A ticket for a prenatal consultation costs 200CFA (50 cents) and then it's a few dollars for shots, iron pills, and malaria prophylaxis. I gave my sister the equivalent of $4 to cover it because her husband didn't have that--or at least claimed he didn't.She didn't ask me for it nor have I ever given money for anything besides my food, this just seemed too important. She went and will probably have her baby in early March!

Lamine's first wife, Khodya is also extremely pregnant (end of her 8th month probably). She showed me her consultation card last night and she is having twins! She also only went for 1 consultation, in which the nurse told her to go to the regional hospital to have a sonogram done, suspecting twins. The sonogram picture isn't anywhere near the quality in the US, but I could clearly see there are 2. She already has 6 kids (that I know of) and she's only 35... Khodya's exhausted, giving birth almost on the clock ever 1.5-2 years, and her body will continue to have difficulty recovering after each birth without necessary time to rest. Another sister, Rhoky (bro Ibou's 2nd wife), is still breastfeeding her daughter who is almost 2 and can't yet walk (bigger problem there) and is pregnant as well. She is only 2 or 3 months, but looks 4 or 5...more twins? And Ibou wants a 3rd wife. He already has like 10 kids--he's the one who can't afford to give his daughter a $1-$2 tetanus shot but wants another wife. Yea...

This brings me to my main decision of the week: if you can't afford to send your pregnant wife (wives, in Lamine's case) to get the necessary 4 (or even 2 or 3) prenatal consultations, let alone health services after the child is born, maybe you should stop procreating. Just my opinion.

As a cultural note about Senegalese, they are not comfortable talking about pregnancy. To most it's taboo. Mothers and fathers also don't like to count the number of children they have for fear that will jinx one of them. With the exception of Rhoky, my sisters denied their pregnancies, asking who told me. "I have eyes, I can see..." "No, this is just from the millet and rice, I ate a lot." This goes for one of the teachers as well. However, as a Health PCV, one of my jobs (I guess) is getting people to talk about stuff like this, at least so they understand the importance in acknowledging the pregnancy so they can take proper care of themselves and their unborn babies. My family is getting used to me talking to them about it, though I try to do it just with the woman or women in a smaller setting. Women outside of my family are still somewhat shocked when I bring it up or make a comment about someone being pregnant, always denying and asking how I know, feigning shock and awkwardly laughing. [Note: I only bring it up when I am 100% sure] However, the most recent joke with the pregnant teacher and my sisters is talking about who would win a running race between them, someone always adding the name of another pregnant woman in the village to the mix. Humor is at least one way to start addressing it. Currently, Fatou (teacher) thinks she could win, but says Khodya would be close. Of course, super competitive Diboor thinks she could take them all (still while denying being pregnant, even after showing me the card from her prenatal visit). Ondang ondang.

Khodya asked me two days ago and again last night "if I could take her stomach for her for the next month or so." Sadly for her, I cannot (nor would I want to at this point in my life), but I promised to help after the birth by carrying one on my back. haha. I also made the family promise to call me when she delivers. My sisters have a habit of delivering their children (baby Ibou, Amy Na) while I am away from the village for an extended period of time, which is kind of sad. Actually, all I really care about is a safe delivery of the baby and the health of the mother. Prayers for my sisters as they get ready to deliver, especially Khodya, please.