I lost eight children before receiving my rainbow baby

Due to a weak cervix, Catherine Edesa couldn’t carry a pregnancy to term until a surgical procedure to reinforce her womb was done.

Milliam Murigi @millymur1

A positive pregnancy test can be celebratory news to many people. But for others, it can be a bitter-sweet experience.

For Catherine Edesa, having gone through one miscarriage after another, she had lost hope of carrying a pregnancy to full-term. 

Her journey to become a mother had started in August 2006 while she was in her early 20s.

This was immediately after completing her college education. Though she wasn’t married then, she was excited.

Her then boyfriend, now husband, Simon Emuria was willing to marry her so that their baby would be born in a complete family set-up. 

“I never missed any antenatal clinics. Unfortunately, at six months, on February 2007 I woke up one morning felling unwell. I was rushed to hospital,” says the 37-years old.

She gave birth to twin boys prematurely. The facility she had been taken to didn’t have an incubator, and before they could be transferred to a well-equipped hospital, the boys passed on.

It was painful for Catherine to watch her babies die while she could do nothing to save them.

Worse still, people blamed her for the loss of her babies. Her husband was also in denial.

“I was eager to get pregnant again to prove to everyone that I had nothing to do with the loss.

My doctor had said that having been a multiple pregnancy, most probably there was no enough space for my boys to grow to maturity,” she says.

Luckily, eight months later, (October 2007) she conceived again. However, her joy was short lived because she still lost the pregnancy at six months. 

Loss after loss

Three months later, she conceived again, but still lost it, this time at five months.

In 2009, she conceived and still lost the pregnancy again; she was carrying twins.  In 2010, she conceived again.

During her last pregnancy, the doctor had told her that she had an incompetent cervix also called cervical insufficiency.

This occurs when weak cervical tissue causes or contributes to premature birth or the loss of an otherwise healthy pregnancy. 

A procedure called cervical cerclage was performed on her when she was 20 weeks into the pregnancy at Busia County Referral Hospital.

Cervical cerclage reinforces a woman’s uterus if her uterus opens too soon before term.

“By the time the procedure was done, the doctor said that membranes were bulging and, therefore I was put on complete bed rest.

Despite all this, the baby couldn’t stay in my womb for long. Two months after the procedure, my uterus opened.

A baby girl was born alive, but later died in the nursery. My dream of becoming a mother was shuttered again,” Catherine says.

“I thank God because nurses were supportive. Before I left the hospital, the gynaecologist who attended to me wrote me a series of tests,” she adds.

After the tests, Catherine was put under medication to ensure she carries her pregnancy to term, but she still lost her sixth pregnancy and eighth baby. 

Victory at last 

Her husband was worried and even asked her not to conceive again. But she wanted to have her own children.

So nothing would have stopped her. “My husband was afraid that if I continued conceiving, I would endanger my life.

He proposed we adopt a baby. I was not comfortable with the idea. I decided to slow down on trying to conceive, but in November 2011, I got pregnant again,” she recalls.

Catherine was afraid. She didn’t know how to break the news to her husband.

When she finally did, her husband was upset with her and equally afraid. Cervical cerclage was performed when she was 16 weeks pregnant.

Catherine would also visit a doctor every fortnight for check-up. She was on total bed rest.

The couple held their breath after six months and would be thankful for every day that passed.

On July 17, 2012 she went into labour, and delivered a son, baby Mihacle Precious Emmanuel was born after a complete pregnancy term.

“When I heard his cry, I was short for words. My life changed forever. God granted me the miracle of becoming a mother.

The best gift I’ve ever received. Everyone was exited. Everyone celebrated my victory. The child also reunited me with my family,” she says.

Eight years after her rainbow child was born, Catheirne is yet to have another baby though she has been trying to conceive.

“I stopped family planning when he was four years. I hope to get pregnant again soon,” she concludes.