Six weeks after giving birth – Mama Kemi took her baby for her 6-week vaccination – visiting the primary healthcare in her neighborhood. She was welcomed with a smile by a dapper elderly Matron at the health facility. Good morning mothers you all should have your sit – she went on to group the mothers based on the vaccination they came for; mothers for 6 weeks vaccination sat on her right-hand side, and mothers for 10 weeks and above vaccination sat on the other side.
First, I will be addressing mothers who came for 6 weeks vaccination; thanks for coming today, you’ve made a sacrifice to preserve the health of your baby, by ensuring they are protected from infectious diseases. If you were not consumed by the joy of your baby’s birth; you should recall within 12 hours after delivery, three vaccines were administered to your baby: Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), and Hepatitis B vaccine.
The BCG vaccine helps your baby prevent tuberculosis a life-threatening disease – affects the lungs, and makes them cough non-stop: she demonstrated by coughing continuously into her pam – the atmosphere was filled with laughter like the health facility hall became a night of a thousand laugh comedy show.
The second vaccine baby receive na Oral polio vaccine, she switched to pidgin English: to accommodate mothers not highly educated – this one dey help pikin prevent polio infection wey they paralyze pikin: you go don see people wey polio affect their legs, he go prevent the leg from developing, so tay pikin no go ever fit waka. The mothers were all moved emotionally and suddenly the atmosphere became calm; they must have been able to recollect the picture of a person seated on a wheelchair seeking for alms someplace, sometime in their community.
The last vaccine baby received was hepatitis B vaccine, that vaccine one helps prevent hepatitis B infection – It affects the liver, and causes liver problems: liver injury (cirrhosis) and liver cancer.
Hope everyone has learned something? If you have questions ask or forever remain silent, she jokingly exclaimed! So back to today’s vaccination.
To learn more about other childhood vaccines contact Inocul8 on 08160962414.
