Labake Oluwuyi, amidst tears, narrated how malaria fiddled with her joy of being a mother. She cringed at its consequences. “I was fighting for my baby’s life,” recalled Labake, “The joy I had when I got pregnant began to wane.”
As Labake’s story illustrates, malaria can have devastating effects on pregnant women. Shortly after noticing some body changes and lack of appetite, the 31-year-old mother said, floored by the rapidly swollen feet she’d developed, she was confirmed positive when tested for pregnancy in early 2024 at a private clinic in Sokoto State.
Her daily routine was interrupted by the bouts of severe pains that followed her new physiologic condition. “I struggled to perform daily tasks—general house cleaning and cooking meals for myself and my husband—at home. I became weak on a daily basis,” said Oluwuyi, visibly shaken by the ripple effects of her least expected medical diagnosis.
But Labake’s ordeal is not strange. Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by a female anopheles’ mosquito. Popularly known as plasmodium, it infects red blood cells, thus leading to fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. When injected into the blood, the malaria parasite proliferates rapidly in the liver; eventually infecting red blood cells. When neglected or not given adequate medical attention, its devastating effects become prominent—especially in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa.
The statistics are alarming. A report by the World Health Organization shows that—in Nigeria—its complications in pregnancies have risen from 8.4% to 58.1%. This increase makes women susceptible to malaria during the first and second months of their pregnancies.
Prevalence of exposure to malaria infection during pregnancy
The prevalence of exposure to malaria infection during pregnancy in 2023 – as revealed by the World Health Organization – was high in West Africa, where six million (36.4%) of an estimated 16.5 million pregnant women and girls had malaria infection.
Moreover, the World Health Organization’s estimated 1.4 million cases of malaria in pregnancy-related maternal mortality in Nigeria account for about 20% of maternal deaths. The prevalence of exposure to malaria infection during pregnancy in 2023 – as revealed by the World Health Organization – was high in West Africa, where six million (36.4%) of an estimated 16.5 million pregnant women and girls had malaria infection.
Getting Medical Care is a Struggle
The struggle to access medical care worsens the problem. Whenever Halimah Abdullahi, aged 29, recalls her mother’s empathy and the visit she made to Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) during her pregnancy period, she winces at the painful memory. Greeted by the long queue of people whose facial expression denoted eternity was in close view, she made her way to the next available chair (making her the second to the last person in a reception room filled with over 80 people).
Halimah’s story sheds light on the need for improved access to healthcare. Receiving treatment at UDUTH under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)—an initiative of the federal government that offers treatment at a subsidized rate to citizens and families—comes with an added cost.
“We waited for hours,” Halimah sadly noted. “It was really painful. I sat in the hospital with other pregnant women, struggling to get medical attention,” she said, her voice interlaced with tears. After being diagnosed, Halimah spent several hours before the test results were made available.
“I was diagnosed with malaria,” she retorted. Worse still, she noted the chances of it affecting her baby’s health and leading to low birth weight made her bedridden for weeks—fighting for her baby’s life.
Halimah is not alone in this struggle. Rahmat Muhammad, a petty trader and mother of two, faced similar challenges. “I was diagnosed with malaria when I was two months in,” noted Rahmat, her face stewed with hunger and sickness amplifying her pains.
The financial burden of malaria treatment is overwhelming. With the country’s current inflation rate, a report published in The PUNCH shows that access to medication is becoming increasingly hard, especially for those with limited means.
“My family had to bear the financial burden: the rising cost of medication and transportation to the clinic was something my little earning couldn’t foot, ” she said, with a weary and worried tone.
She added that the cost of medical care continues to rise, it’s yet a major challenge for pregnant women. Rahmat pleaded for the government to intervene in the rising cost of medications to help ease the tension it has caused pregnant women.
Experts Counsel
In an interview with WIKKITIMES, Dr Kolawole Olarenwaju, a medical officer at the University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH), noted the important roles healthcare professionals play in combating the detrimental effects of malaria on pregnant women. “Educating pregnant women about the importance of malaria and ensuring they have access to it is a crucial step in preventing malaria,” emphasizes Dr. Olarenwaju.
He further stresses the importance of early diagnosis, noting that “Providing malaria testing kits helps prevent complications and is really important in settings where access to healthcare may be limited.”
