Hodan’s story: an advocate for stillbirth
Hodan Mohamoud Osman (Hodan Biibaa), Somaliland
MIDWIFE
Interview by Fatumo Osman
Hodan Mohamoud Osman (Hodan Biibaa) is passionate about supporting women who have had a stillbirth. We are grateful to Hodan for sharing her story with us and the important work she does for women in Somaliland.
Hodan was born in Hargeisa Somaliland in 1986. Her extended family consists of nine sisters and eight brothers from three different mothers. She is the 5th out of six children birthed by her biological mother. Sadly, Hodan’s mother died just before Somalia's civil war. Hodan said: Since I don’t remember much of my mother, I was told that my mother died due to eclampsia with placenta abruption. She was pregnant with twin boys, who were both stillborn, and my mother died due to that complication.
At a young age, her mother’s story made Hodan interested in understanding ways to save pregnant women. Hodan said:
I have had my hero father who raised us well, and he became both my mother and my father. When the civil war started, we fled to JigJiga, Ethiopia to my grandfather’s house. My father was a well-known businessman, so he refused to stay in refugee camps and that’s why we came back to Hargeisa in 1991. My father was teaching us at home until the schools were re-opened in Hargeisa. As my dream was to help pregnant women avoid miscarriage and stillbirths, I studied general nursing in 2005 and then midwifery. I started my first job in 2009 at Hargeisa Group Hospital, which is the referral hospital in Somaliland. I then worked as a midwife for 6 years, and I was working as a midwife in charge. During this time, I felt I needed more education to achieve my goal, and earned my Bachelor's degree in midwifery and master's degree in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. I also have a master's degree in Health Professional Education.
Currently, I am working at Somaliland Ministry of Health and Development as a Reproductive Health co-ordinator and am still working for vulnerable mothers and newborns. In addition, I work a part-time job at the University of Hargeisa as a midwifery lecturer.
Why did you become a midwife?
I became a midwife because of my mother’s story of stillbirth. My twin siblings were stillborn. And when I started working as a midwife, I found in the register at least 30-40 stillbirths per month!!! That was a nightmare for me. I wondered why this was happening in my community. So, together with some colleagues, we started to find out ways we could decrease stillbirth but also prevent it from happening. When I was working at the hospital, I used to deliver babies and provide education to mothers, working hard to save mothers and their newborns. I was especially focused on mothers who had a difficult obstetric history, for example, those who had previously had a stillborn.
The most painful part was when I myself experienced a stillbirth. My firstborn was a stillbirth. It was painful because I have been working closely with those mothers and supporting them on how they could prevent it or recognise the risk signs, but it happened to me!!! Supporting mothers who have undergone stillbirth and working on how we can reduce stillbirth is my mission and I will do as much as I can until my last breath. Because I know now how painful it is.
What support is there for women who lost their children?
Actually, women in Somaliland receive great support from their mothers and siblings. Particularly when they are in hospital, all relatives and neighbours come to see them and sometimes they give financial support. Neighbours even offer to watch out for the children and home. But the problem is when the woman comes back home, people expect her to behave as she did before, and then she becomes alone with her experiences. Many women suffer from mental health distress.
I know you support these women, can you tell us what you have done so far?
For mothers who lost their children, I give them moral support, I give them advice and I reassure them by sharing my experiences, so they understand they are not alone. Sometimes I talk to some doctors to give them free care since most of the women I meet are from the poorest in the community. I advocate for them when I see health care providers are neglecting them or not giving them the attention they need. It might happen that some health care providers send them home and say nothing is wrong with your baby. When this happens, I follow them to the hospital and make sure they get the care they deserve for free. If needed I go to the hospital director and tell the woman’s history so she could get the care free of charge.
What do you want to say to the women and to the society?
I would like to say to the women to change their health seeking behavior because many women in our community don’t attend antenatal care. One of my core missions is to advise them to go to the nearest health facility and have regular antenatal checkups. In addition, I advise them to space their pregnancy so they have adequate time to recover. Birth spacing is crucial here, so she recovers herself and can take better care of her children.
Regarding society, I would like to say that they support women throughout this period, not only when she is in hospital. They should let her talk about her feelings and offer their ears and not judge or tell her what to do instead.
What do you want to contribute? and what is your biggest dream?
I would like to educate all mothers who are pregnant or wish to be pregnant, and I also want to do research and share knowledge with the community and policymakers. I want to make a difference in the field of stillbirth in Africa, particularly in my country.
My biggest dream is to establish a centre that takes care of women who lost their babies and gives them consultation but also financial support. The centre will also share knowledge with the community. I also want to train midwives on how they can support these women.
Another big dream I have is to write a book from all these meetings I had with women who lost their children. The title of my book is ready, so I need to start writing it up.