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Delivery rooms a nightmare for deaf mothers

Tuesday, July 26th, 2022 00:03 | By
Delivery rooms a nightmare for deaf mothers
A woman giving birth in hospital. PHOTO/Courtesy.

Judy Kihumba is the founder of Talking Hands Listening Eyes on Postpartum Depression (Thlep), a non-profit organisation.

“In 2018, I lost my dad and due to shock, I lost my pregnancy. It wasn’t an easy journey because at around the same time I was nursing a close friend who was like a mother figure to us. She died in 2019 when I was pregnant again. When I gave birth, I went through a rough patch of Postpartum Depression (PPD). I realised that nobody reaches out to mothers with hearing disability who suffer PPD,” Judy explains. 

Thlep is also committed to raising awareness, advocating and rallying support for expectant and mums with hearing disability, nursing mothers in the area of mental health, particularly PPD. “We walk with them in the journey of pregnancy and motherhood, based on the five main principles of psychosocial support: promoting a sense of safety, calming and self-efficacy, facilitating social connectedness, and building hope,”shares Judy.

 Mothers who can’t hear baby cry

She explains how mums who have a  hearing disability face challenges in their parenting journey.

“Being a new mum is a challenging moment for any woman. You have to make adjustments because of the baby and when one is hearing impaired, it is even harder. Sometimes the mother won’t even hear her baby crying and others won’t understand why the baby is throwing tantrums,” explains Judy.

She delivered her babies via caeserean section hence had no clue what happens in a delivery room. Walking with a deaf mother to a delivery room and seeing the struggles they go through opened her eyes in a deeper way and gave her a reason to keep on raising her voice for them.

“Accessing heath information; attending antenatal and postnatal clinics becomes a challenge, especially if they don’t have a sign language interpreter with them or a doctor who is willing to write some of the information down for them,” she explains

Judy looks forward to reach out to more mums with hearing disability in other counties and also those in pastoralist communities where few people access. She also hopes to open a counselling centre  and a rescue centre since a majority are going through gender based violence.

“Safe motherhood should be a basic right for all mothers. I believe in making a difference in whichever way and encourage those with the ability to hear to remove barriers that would hinder  those with hearing disability from achieving their dreams. The best and most beautiful thing in the world can’t be seen or even touched; it must be felt with the heart.

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