Victor Amadi [email protected] 08056180243
Prof Obioha Okoro, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, is the medical director of Romalex Hospital, Aba, Abia State. He also teaches at the Medical School of Abia State University.
In this interview, he spoke on health issues relating to his area of specialty.
Could you tell us the importance of clinical exercise?
Clinical exercises are very important, as they help you to exercise the muscles. This is to ensure the muscles are in good working condition. This helps the blood to circulate and by that the heart and the blood vessels will be in good working order. All these are very beneficial to pregnant ladies all the time. Such exercises do not allow the blood of these expectant women to pull to the legs and lead to what we call “deep vein thrombosis.” This simply means blood clot in the veins, of the pelvis and in the legs.
Talking about pregnant women, could you tell us about ante natal care?
As the name goes, health workers follow this almost religiously. Care is very important during pregnancy. The aim of ante natal care is to examine patients, find out the risk factors, which could cause problems in that pregnancy; and try to treat and attend to these risk factors. This is basically the idea behind the ante natal care. And when in place, it is what doctors, with the professional help of nurses and midwives, tend to achieve always.
During childbirth, there could be prolonged labour. Why is this?
As we have seen in medical practice, there are varying problems with prolonged labour. The problem could be from the mother’s side, or it could be from the baby’s side. The baby could even die from this agonising experience. The baby could also have severe injuries, and at last when the baby is born, birth comes with brain damage. The baby may end up having epilepsy, and the other related abnormities. Then from the mother’s side, she could die. The mother could also have ruptured uterus. The lady could have this vaginal fistula. I tell you all these could arise from prolonged labour.
Is this related to badly-positioned baby before birth?
This is a situation we refer to as the breech presentation. This takes us back to ante natal care we discussed earlier. The findings that a baby is badly positioned in the womb are made possible or revealed through ante natal care, through our scan system, X-ray, etc. Breech means the baby is coming with legs instead of the head. That is what is meant by being ‘badly positioned.’ It is very dangerous for both the mother and the baby.
What could be done in some cases to normalise situation is what we call External Cephalic Version. By this approach, we try to turn the baby so that the head will present instead of the bottoms or legs. That can be done on the abdomen in some circumstances. But most of the others because of the risks involved would end up having caesarian sessions to deliver the child. This will ensure the mother and child are alive and safe.
When is a child termed abnormal?
A child is abnormal when it does not have what you expect from a normal child. A child that has a hole in the heart is abnormal. This includes when the child are not formed or grown very well. Once the features of a normal child are not there, it means the child is abnormal. Examples abound, when the limbs are not well formed, a hole in the heart, tumor, limbs, hands, legs.