This is Shahira and her only son, Hazim
Hazim is the first of Shahira’s children to survive to the age of three. Before he was born she had three miscarriages. Then her daughter died before she was one year old. When our health project started in her area she finally found out why.
When Shahira’s first pregnancy failed, she didn’t understand what was happening. “My mother-in-law and my neighbours told me I’d had a miscarriage,” she says. “They told me it was my fault for not resting. I believed them.”
After her third miscarriage Shahira felt tired and weak. “My mother-in-law told me the family needed children. I wanted to have a break but she told me I must keep trying.”
Shahira became pregnant with her fourth child and, at four months, was told at the health centre that everything was fine.
A glimpse of joy
“I gave birth at home with a traditional birth attendant and I was very happy to have a baby girl. But she was very small, too small.
“I started breastfeeding, everyone said to feed her a lot and she’d get bigger. At three months my mother-in-law started to feed her other food too, she said my milk wasn’t enough. She grew, her face was beautiful but her body was still too small. One day I saw her face started turning blue. We rushed her to the hospital, but on the way she passed away.
“I took a long time in mourning, I was so sad. I held this little girl, she waved at me – it was a very difficult time for me.
“The health centre didn’t give me enough care, but the private clinic was too expensive for my husband to afford.
“A year after our daughter died I was pregnant again. I did the test and then I heard an announcement at the mosque that there were free medical check-ups for pregnant women from an NGO [Save the Children] at the health centre. I wasn’t motivated to go because of my previous experience there. But my neighbour told me it was better and that I should go.
Change for good
“I couldn’t believe it was the same health centre, everyone was supportive and caring. It was the first time I’d had a lab analysis. The doctor tested my blood and my urine and told me I needed to go to the government hospital for further tests. No one had ever suggested I do tests to check why I was having miscarriages. They told me I had a disease [toxoplasmosis, a parasitic blood disease that can come from contact with cat faeces or raw meat] and that it had affected my babies. I needed a vaccine and drugs to keep my baby. The blood test also showed my blood had trouble clotting. I always used to bleed a lot.
Growing courage
“I no longer felt so afraid. The health centre had been asleep, but now the staff and volunteers were motivated. They have classes, one for pregnant women every week. I wanted to know everything. They explained the issues and risks – what to do and not to do. I didn’t know any of this before.
“I had my son at the hospital in Minia. I insisted on going. I insisted to my mother-in-law because she was against it. With new courage I told her I’d decided. When she started to argue I told her I’d listened to her for all those years and lost my babies.
“When my baby boy was delivered the doctor told me he was healthy and had a good weight. I was so happy. Everything I knew, I learned from those classes. He’s three years old now. I want to thank you for helping me to have such a healthy child.”
Find out more
Read more about our work in Egypt and our campaign to save EVERY ONE of the 8.8 million children who die every year from illnesses that could be treated or prevented.