Carrying a 2-Year-Old and Two Months Pregnant
Why Kenyan women need birth control.
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Dhama
Pregnant women in the village of Mnyenzeni say that they know they are taking their lives in their hands each time they become pregnant. Dhama Shumba (far right), 28, is 8 months pregnant with her sixth child and has experienced persistent bleeding and pain throughout this pregnancy. She cannot afford the $12 transport costs to the nearest hospital and will take her chances delivering in her home.
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Saumu
Saumu Kwekwe Sawa gave birth to her fourth child, her first boy, at home a week ago. She had no assistance during her 10 hours of labor and will continue having children until she can give her husband at least two boys. “I want my daughters to live a good life in the town. [I want them] working good jobs anywhere but here because my life is hard,” Sawa said.
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Risk
Without birth control, women in Kenya will deliver six babies on average in their lifetime. They risk a one in 39 chance of dying during birth.
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Chizy
Chizy Juma, 34, explained, “I get so scared every time I am about to give birth because you know each time you may die. I had a miscarriage a few months ago. I was bleeding at home for six hours before I finally went to my husband. I had not wanted to bother him. But now my stomach continues to ache and I am again two months without getting my period. I have six children and I have pains in both sides but I cannot leave my children to go to hospital. I could be pregnant again but I have no way to know.”
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Waiting
These words scrawled on the door of the village midwife express the women’s willingness to work and wait for a better life.
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Kupha
Kupha Zuma Chizatsi digs a trench around the new school in her village with her 2-year-old son on her back. She is three months pregnant. Women typically engage in hard labor until the day they give birth. Their common refrain is, “What man will feed us until we give birth. We have to feed ourselves and our family.”
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7 of 7 Labor
Women carry 30-pound stones out of the new latrine while caring for their small children.
