Helping women facing unplanned pregnancies

Malawi: Women face a wide range of challenges and vulnerabilities in Malawi and around the world. Their difficulties range from not being heard by society enough, to exploitation and harassment, to expectations of how they should dress and how, as women, they must always be in sync with their culture and traditions.

The joys and struggles of motherhood and the process of bringing another human into existence lie just above and beyond the challenges that are already imprinted on any woman's life at birth.

As much as Africa faces many challenges related to child care and high infant mortality rates, statistics show that women in first-world countries face similar difficulties during pregnancy and childbirth. The ethnicity gap in these statistics, however, cannot be overlooked.

According to a 2019 UK watchdog report, Black women in the UK are five times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth.

According to the same report, Asian women are twice as likely as white women to die during and after childbirth, while in the United States, Black women are three to four times more likely to die than white women, with indigenous Americans two to three times more likely to die.

Because pregnancy is any woman's natural way of bringing a child into the world, there are a number of difficult moments that women all over the world and in Africa face during this time in their lives.

While the majority of pregnancies are well-planned and anticipated, there are some that are not.

With a focus on women who find themselves carrying an unplanned pregnancy, one newly introduced privately-owned organisation, Golden Care Pregnancy Center in Lilongwe, is out to help women during these unprecedented times.

According to Monica Makwenda, the organization's managing director, while falling pregnant is a perfectly normal process for any woman, it is critical that women facing unplanned pregnancies have a place they can reach out to help them through that very undetermined period in their lives.

Makwenda says statistics surrounding women's vulnerability during an unplanned pregnancy call for some intervention in order to prevent more women from considering abortion, which in the long run puts their health at risk and can potentially harm their bodies.

According to the organization's representative, the Golden Care Pregnancy Center will use its social media platforms to provide all necessary civic education because it is easier to reach more people online in this new age.

Hellen Katarina Thawani Mpira, a young Blantyre-based mother, was also contacted by the AfricaBrief to share her thoughts on the Golden Care Pregnancy Center initiative.

The young mother praises the Golden Pregnancy Center's establishment, saying that it is exactly what women need, especially during this difficult and transitional time in their lives.

Mpira shared her own experience as a mother and parent, stating that she, too, went through many transitions and emotional changes during her pregnancy and after giving birth to her child.

She goes on to say that professional care and support are essential not only during pregnancy, whether planned or unplanned but also after childbirth, as women experience different emotions because their bodies are no longer the same.

Mpira believes that these are critical services for every woman, particularly in Africa and, more specifically, in Malawi, where women have little to no access to emotional and professional support during their pregnancy.

The Golden Care Pregnancy Centre stated that it has so far reached out to women who have recovered from suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety, among other challenges.

According to the Centre, after a series of talks and counselling sessions, women who were considering abortion changed their minds.