Pregnancy: Our first Impulse

Lucy and Henry got married in December in a colorful wedding ceremony which was attended by many relatives, friends and colleagues. After the wedding the happy couple went for the honeymoon that lasted two weeks. Soon they came back home as a husband and a wife. In January, Lucy missed her monthly period. This could mean she is pregnant! What to do? Two weeks later and no signs of period!

Lucy decided to buy a home pregnancy test kit. After work, she walked into the chemist, bought the kit and found her way home. She watched with bated breath as two neat red lines appeared on the kit. Her joy or is it fear or a mixture of both were visually confirmed: Lucy was pregnant. And now many questions filled her mind on where to start from.

The role of the husband towards his wife when she is pregnant

·      He should congratulate his wife for accepting the gift of life and consider ways of helping her overcome the initial shock by promising that he will be there for her throughout the journey of pregnancy.

·      Spend time talking with his wife. He should show that he appreciate his wife as she is.

·      He should accompany his wife to the clinic.

Preparing the children for their sibling’s arrival

During the last trimester when Maria was beginning to talk, it was easy to orient her to the coming of her brother. This we did by pointing at the mother’s stomach and saying ‘Toto’ which stands for mtoto the Swahili word for child. Maria had seen many ‘Totos’ in church, most of who were even older than she was. From then on “Kiss Toto” and Sing for Toto” became popular activities in the house. When we brought Antony home, we invited Maria to hold him and repeated “Toto”. We then invited her to kiss the baby and sing for him.

Ask your self these questions

      i.         As a young couple how would you respond to the news of being parents soon?

     ii.         In what ways do you intend on helping each other throughout the pregnancy period?

    iii.         How can you start talking to your child early about having a new baby?

    iv.         How can you tell your child about the kind of attention a new baby needs?

     v.         Once the baby is born, in which ways can you involve your child in helping to take care of the new baby?