Yenagoa – Mrs Kate Fezigha, a
52-year-old midwife at the
General Hospital, Sagbama,
Bayelsa, said she gave birth to
a baby girl on June 3 to end 19-
year barrenness. Fezigha gave the testimony at
the Child Dedication and
Thanksgiving Service of the
baby christened Prudent, in
Yenagoa on Sunday. She said she got married in
1994 and had supervised the
delivery of many children and
witnessed the joy and feeling
of many mothers during labour
and child birth. According to her, an attempt to
adopt a child from a Bayelsa-
based Orphanage was fruitless
as she was swindled by the
purported coordinator of the
home. She said that her chances of
conception were further
reduced on attainment of
menopause when she ceased
to observe her monthly
menstrual cycle. She said that the arrival of
Prudent changed her story and
brought joy and consolation to
the family. The elated mother said that
the conception and delivery of
the miracle baby was “the
Lord’s doing and it is
marvelous in His sight’’. Fezigha said the pressure
became unbearable during the
19-years waiting, and she took
stock of her service as a
midwife but she managed to
remain steadfast in her trust in God. “It was not an easy experience
to see others through the child
bearing process and not to
have your own child. “And it is particularly touching
when I have had a very
successful professional
practice as a midwife. “I have not lost any baby or
mother under my care as a
midwife under the Bayelsa
Government,’’ she recalled. She continued: “I was worried
that many of the children I had
taken delivery of during
service were now parents. “I even reflected and
wondered why is it that that
despite the fact that no child
had died in my hand during
delivery as midwife, why can’t
I have my own, but a voice kept telling me to redouble my
effort and I shall be blessed. “But the mysterious voice
started reducing in my head as
I was losing hope. “I decided to adopt a baby
from an orphanage and I was
duped. At this stage, I
deliberately killed the voice
and hand it all to God. “I asked him that I will not
disturb him any longer. And if
he decides to give me a child,
so be it,’’ Fezigha said in her
testimony. Narrating her experience with
childlessness Fezigha,
explained that a stage in her
life, her mysterious sickness
led her to take a scan and it
was diagnosed to be either a ‘fibroid or Cyst’. According to her, another scan
later revealed that she was
pregnant. I had mixed feelings
after the second scan. “I even told my husband that it
is false pregnancy. When my
husband asked me what that
meant, I became his lecturer
telling him what he meant and
saw the expectation of a pregnancy in his eyes. “Few months later, I started
seeing some changes in my
body. Throughout this period, I
could not go to work and had
to be hospitalised twice before
I delivered. “Those who knew me could
not believe it and screamed
when they see my swollen
stomach. When they see me,
they scream and shout praise
the Lord,’’ she said amidst joy. Fezigha, said that her family is
full of praise to God, “all the
period of waiting was not
easy, but I am comforted by
the word of God. “Let me advice women that
are hoping for a child to put
their faith in God. God will give
them a child and they should
not patronise native
doctors.’’ (NAN)