JAN 07 - My neighbour's daughter, who had given birth to a baby a week ago, was eating only rice gruel as her diet. Somebody had advised her to avoid oily and spicy food. The reason: the doctor had warned of a possibility that her baby might catch Viral Hepatitis (Jaundice) later. The baby's blood type matched with the father's. Nobody in the family showed concern towards this.
When I found this out, I told them she (and they) were doing the wrong thing. The baby was already frail and anemic. Also, she had to suckle her baby. So, I advised her parents to provide her nutritious foods and lots of soup. "She doesn't eat," her mother complained, "Even Jwain (the son-in-law) has forbidden us to provide her such foods". A soldier in the Nepal Army, their son-in-law was also, I guessed, not a wise husband. Moreover, he was as superstitious and ignorant as the others in the family.
After two days, when I returned home from college I found everybody in rush and horrified in my neighbour's house. I heard children scream, and rushed towards them. When I reached there, the baby girl was throwing out her hands and feet unconsciously. She had bitten her tongue and her eyes were looking towards infinity.
It is a common belief that nobody should touch a nursing
mother and her baby until the name giving ceremony is performed because they are impure. Without taking any notice of this, I rushed to help. My mother and my wife joined me. I got her family members to rub her palms and the bottom of her feet gently. Other people of the neighbourhood were mute and standing at a distance, as nobody dared coming close, to be impure. The girl came to consciousness after a while. They said it was the third time she had shown the same symptoms that morning.
I felt danger lurking. Her face was so pale and colourless that it looked anemic and other worldly. But her family members were convinced that it was a 'lagu' (an illness caused by some bad spirit). A shaman had already tried to cure her twice that morning. They were thinking of calling him again. As suggested by the shaman, they were trying to hide red things so that she would not notice them and faint.
I immediately called an ambulance and managed to rush her to a nearby clinic despite her family's bewilderment. She was referred to a bigger hospital.
Both the mother and the baby are now at home, back after a weeklong treatment in the hospital. Now, their health is normal. The mother is eating nutritious food and soups. So, she doesn't have to feed her baby with cow or buffalo milk anymore. I am happy because my little help saved somebody's life. But I wonder how many lives are lost in Nepal every year due to people's ignorance.
Published in The Kathmandu Post on 08.01.2012
No comments:
Post a Comment