Sleeping in pregnancy. Image source: The Bump
Angela Onwuzoo
The continuous drop in electricity supply in Lagos State and the non-existence of it in some areas has made life quite unbearable for pregnant women.
This has led to them crying out for help, saying they are no longer comfortable, especially in the face of the unbearable prevailing heat wave.
According to them, the regular blackout is making the journey of pregnancy more stressful and the situation has worsened the stress they were already battling amid the hardship in the country.
The vulnerable mothers, who spoke with PUNCH Healthwise claimed that the epileptic power supply in the state was impacting their health by denying them quality sleep and also raising their stress levels.
The women, who variously live in the densely populated areas of Isolo Shomolu, Bariga, Abule Ado, Ibeju Lekki, Mushin, Ojo, and Amuwo Odofin, say they are unable to sleep adequately and comfortably in their homes, especially at night due to the unbearable heat.
Besides poor sleep and stress, the women who are in their third trimester, also complain of restlessness, irritation, weakness, headaches, and tiredness.
The pregnant mothers, who are mostly traders, further lamented that the epileptic power supply had compounded the challenge of getting a comfortable sleep position, which they have been grappling with due to their tummy sizes.
According to them, the high cost of petrol has made it difficult for them to put on their small generators as an alternative electricity supply source to power their fans.
This is a cause for serious concern, maternal health experts say, warning that the situation may increase Nigeria’s already high maternal and infant mortality rate.
Research has long shown that high levels of stress can negatively impact the health of pregnant women and their foetuses and that severe stress in pregnancy is associated with complications like preterm birth, low birth weight, and even sleep and behavioural disorders
Not long ago, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, explained that gas shortage was responsible for the poor electricity supply being experienced across the country.
Speaking about her plight, a 34-year-old mother of two, who is pregnant with her third child, Mrs Aanu Dada, told our correspondent that she manages to sleep three hours every night due to intense heat.
The Lagos housewife, who is seven months pregnant, said the epileptic power supply had made pregnancy stressful for her even as she complained about her inability to eat a balanced diet due to the economic hardship in the country.
“We only have electricity supply for about four hours every day, which is mostly in the afternoon. We don’t sleep with light in my area and it is affecting me.
“I am seven-month-old pregnant and I live in one permanent with my two children and husband. I rarely sleep up to three hours at night because of the intense heat. I sit in front of our house up to 1. Am, despite all the mosquito bites because of the intolerable, intense heat”, Dada lamented.
Another woman, Mrs Joy Odeh, 27, said, “The situation is depressing because sleep position is already a problem for me because of my big tummy. My baby is big. I am over eight months pregnant. I no longer sleep on the bed because of the intense heat. I sleep on the bare floor and wake up with severe body pain.”
Meanwhile, experts say by the second and third trimesters, pregnancy becomes heavy with the average weight of a baby between 2. 5kg and about 4kg.
A trader, Mrs Oge Ibeh, 32, who is eight months pregnant, said the poor power supply in her area had also compounded the stress that she was already going through.
She lamented, “There is no money to buy fruits and vegetables, which are good for pregnant women. I only manage to eat once a day now, and I’m tired of what I’m eating.
“Today rice, tomorrow spaghetti, and the day after tomorrow hunger. And now the heat will not allow me to sleep because there is no power supply. I don’t sleep up to four hours daily. What type of life is that?”
Maternal health experts say adequate sleep during pregnancy especially between eight to 10 hours daily is crucial for the optimal development of the baby.
However, this is a luxury that is beyond the reach of Mrs Bola Akinbayo, another pregnant woman who is seven months gone.
She said, “The heat is unbearable, and without a power supply, we can’t use fans. Look at heat rashes spread all over my body. I now sleep on the bare floor.”
36-year-old, Mrs Esther Bolaji, on her part said, “I manage to sleep three hours every night because of the heat. The situation is making me restless.”
Mrs Joyce Udoh described the situation as very frustrating and according to the nine-month-old pregnant woman, the issue is something to be worried about because it impacts their health.
She complained that when there is no electricity, a lot of things go wrong, and it increases the level of stress, especially for pregnant women.
Maternal health specialists say stress and inadequate sleep during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and hypertension.
A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr Bright Airhumwunde, says stress could result in poor pregnancy outcomes by predisposing expectant mothers to preterm delivery.
According to him, stress is a very common condition in pregnancy, especially low to moderate stress.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Airhumwunde said the major foetal outcomes of stress are preterm delivery and low birth weight.
Dr. Bright Airhumwunde
The gynaecologist noted that preterm birth is the leading cause of under-five mortality worldwide and the leading cause of death of under-five children in Nigeria.
Besides the risk of preterm delivery, Airhumwunde, who is the Managing Director, Crown Global Medicare, said pregnant women going through stress also stand the risk of having high blood pressure.
He said, “About 78 per cent of pregnant women have low to moderate stress and in about six per cent, it could be severe. The outcome is worse if it occurs in the first trimester.
“It can cause the level of the stress hormone cortisol to increase and this affects the sleep-wake cycle, eventually manifesting as sleeplessness, poor concentration, anxiety, depression, and increase in blood pressure, which is a leading cause of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality in our environment.”
The World Health Organisation says preterm babies are at risk of developing disabilities that will affect them for their entire lives.
According to the UN health agency, the extent to which this will affect their life strongly depends on how early they were born, the quality of care they received during and around birth, and the days and weeks that follow.
WHO
Another gynaecologist and a former chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, Dr Joseph Akinde, said a pregnant woman needs to have between six to eight hours of sleep a day.
“When pregnant women are advised to take rest and they don’t, they might end up having premature labour which may come sooner than expected.
“A pregnant woman needs to sleep for six to eight hours a day. The truth of the matter is that when you are stressed, you will have elevated blood pressure. And we know that hypertensive disorder in pregnancy is one of the real causes of maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria,” he said.
Dr. Akinde Joseph
The WHO also listed hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and in particular, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia as major causes of maternal deaths in the world.
Akinde urged the government to look into the problem and provide a lasting solution to the power challenge in the country.
The 2018 Demographic and Health Survey showed that Nigeria’s latest maternal mortality ratio is 512 per 100,000 live births, which experts say is still very high.
Researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, say if an expectant mother is strongly stressed over a longer period, the risk of the unborn child developing a mental or physical illness later in life – such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or cardiovascular disease -increases.
PUNCH Healthwise gathered that electricity supply has dropped drastically in Lagos to as low as three to five hours of daily service in some areas in Lagos.
Spokesman for Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Babatunde Lasaki, said the situation was caused by a gas shortage.
Amid the epileptic power supply, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, recently approved a 300 per cent tariff increment for Band A consumers, allowing power distribution companies to raise electricity prices for city dwellers from N68 to N225 per kilowatt-hour with effect from April 1, 2024.
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