There are many conditions that may lead to a woman not seeing her period when she is supposed to. The number one on the list is pregnancy, especially for a married woman. The next thing is usually to go for a pregnancy test which is done with blood at this very early stage (after the first missed period). Once confirmed, it is very likely the woman has conceived (she has taken in).

The next logical thing is to make plans to register for antenatal care in a good hospital. However, many women who confirm their pregnancy still either procrastinate or just don’t about registering for antenatal care until around the 5th to 6th month of the pregnancy probably when their abdomen (belly) is well enlarged as evidence that they are pregnant.

The truth is the earlier you register for antenatal care for your pregnancy the better for the health of your unborn baby. In Nigeria, it is advised to register for antenatal care after you miss your period (it is regular) the second time: at this point, your pregnancy is around 6 to 8 weeks old. In developed countries, pregnant women register for antenatal care after the first missed period (3 to 4 weeks old pregnancy).

Your first antenatal clinic visit will involve interacting with the doctor, the doctor examining you fully including your abdomen (belly). Your blood pressure, weight and height will be measured and recorded. Then the doctor will request relevant lab tests such as abdominal ultrasound scan to re-confirm your pregnancy and get a very close estimate of how old the pregnancy is in weeks. Other important lab tests the doctor will request you do include your blood level (percentage), blood sugar, a blood test for sexually transmitted infections called VDRL, your blood group, genotype, HIV, hepatitis B and C viral screening, and urine test.

You will also be given the first dose of tetanus toxoid vaccine and prescribed certain drugs (vitamins, blood-boosting supplements) until your next antenatal care appointment. In addition, the doctor will educate you on the need to adopt healthy practices such as sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net and not taking any drugs not prescribed to you by a medical doctor. Your next antenatal care appointments will be as follows: once every 4 weeks until the 28th week after which it becomes once every 2 weeks until the 36th week; from 36 weeks till delivery, you now get to see your doctor once every week.

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Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: antenatal care, blood pressure, blood sugar, gynecologists in Lagos, hepatitis B, married woman, missed my period, mosquito net, obstetricians in Lagos, pregnancy confirmation, pregnancy test, registering for antenatal care, routine pregnancy drugs, tetanus injection

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Pregnancy is one period in the life of a woman when she and everyone around her make every effort to prevent stress, unhealthy practices and harm from coming to her for the sake of her unborn baby and her own life. For a good number of women, registering and going for antenatal care is the major step they take to be armed with the necessary education to ensure a healthy and safe pregnancy.

However, despite taking this necessary measure, a woman may still develop a complication in pregnancy; this could be due to a risk which she had before pregnancy or due to having experienced a similar complication in previous pregnancies or the circumstances surrounding the delivery of previous pregnancies. One of such complications is bleeding from the vagina in pregnancy which can occur anytime in the 9 months of pregnancy.

1. Bleeding in the first 3 months of pregnancy is usually an indicator of an ongoing miscarriage (spontaneous abortion). This bleeding can manifest in several ways depending on the nature of the miscarriage.

If a woman experiences minimal bleeding without any pain, it is likely what doctors call a threatened abortion. This is a type of miscarriage in which the developing baby is likely still intact but will eventually be expelled if the mother does not see a doctor (an obstetrician) immediately she noticed the bleeding.

In some other instances, the pregnant woman in her first 3 months can bleed very heavily with the blood coming in thick clots which are parts of the forming baby in her womb. In addition, such a woman will experience severe abdominal pain because of the contraction of the womb in its attempt to expel the dead baby.

2. Bleeding in the 2nd 3 months of pregnancy (2nd trimester) may also be a sign of an ongoing miscarriage, although about 80% of all miscarriages occur in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Bleeding in a pregnant woman in her 2nd trimester may be a pointer to a miscarriage caused by trauma to her abdomen (like gunshot or heavy blunt strike which may occur during a fight) or Rhesus incompatibility (the mother’s blood group has the negative sign and that of the unborn baby has the positive sign).

3. Bleeding in the 3rd trimester, especially after 28 weeks, is a serious emergency as both the woman and the unborn baby can die if an intervention is not initiated immediately. Bleeding in this phase of pregnant is largely due to 2 conditions: the location of the placenta at the wrong site in the womb, especially towards the lower end of the womb near the opening of the cervix and the premature separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus. Bleeding in this phase of pregnancy may also be due to a genetic bleeding abnormality (inability of the blood to form clots after a wound) in the woman which leads to excessive bleeding from any injury no matter how small.

These two conditions are associated with massive bleeding in the pregnant woman who has any of them and the bleeding can any time from the 28 weeks of pregnancy up to the time the baby has been delivered before the delivery of the placenta. The danger of bleeding at this phase of pregnancy is the risk posed to the life of the mother and that of the unborn baby.

Risk factors that contribute to the premature separation of the placenta from the wall of the womb or its attachment at the wrong site in the womb include development of hypertension after 20 weeks of pregnancy, being pregnant with twins or more babies, a woman who has given birth to more than 5 children, a woman who has had multiple abortions in the past or who was delivered of her previous babies by operation (caesarean section).

Bleeding in pregnancy is an emergency and is the commonest cause of death in pregnant women in Nigeria because of late presentation to the hospital and many women not registering for antenatal care. As a pregnant woman, it is your duty to register for and receive antenatal care regularly as early as possible (starting from the first 3 months and attending the clinic until you give birth to your child); it is also your duty to call for help and report to the hospital at the slightest of bleeding from your private part.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: abortion, antenatal care, bleeding in pregnancy, hypertension in pregnancy, miscarriage, pregnancy

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Many a time people get mad at themselves or their kids for supposedly sleeping too much: not being able to wake up by 5am after going to bed by 11pm or 12 midnight. We feel that it paints a picture of laziness and negligence especially when there are so many things to be done (like studying for exams, preparing for a project or the regular market day sales, and so on). As a result, some people make a resolution to now sleep less (5 hours or less) every day throughout the year in order to get things done; from doing this successfully a whole year, it becomes a lifestyle: sleeping less every day for the greater part of your life so that targets will be met.

However, just like eating healthy and exercising adequately consistently are important for a physically and mentally healthy life, adequate sleep has been shown by multiple scientific research studies to be equally essential to a good physical and mental health. It is recommended to get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep at the right time a day on a regular basis for adults; for children, it is more than 9 hours of sleep a day. Why is this necessary for a good mental health?

1. Getting an adequate number of hours of sleep on a regular basis has been shown to help in improving learning and memory (ability to retain newly learnt pieces of information). Ever wondered why you hardly remember many of the things you studied a night before an exam in great detail especially if you just slept like only 3 hours to the morning of the exam? Most times it is the things you learnt and studied days, weeks and months before the day of the exam that you tend to recollect vividly if questions are asked on them. This is because you probably had more hours of sleep per day when the exam date was still many weeks away after studying each day.

And how does getting enough sleep help in improving learning and memory? When you study and learn a new piece of information/knowledge, the cells of your brain, known as neurons, make new connections with one another. It is these connections that cement and reinforce the retention of these new pieces of assimilated information/knowledge for long-term memory processing and storage in your brain.

It is also during a quality sleep that these brain cells produce the majority of a group of chemicals, known as neurotransmitters, which serves as messengers in relaying information from the brain to every other part of the body and carrying information from the body and the environment to the brain for processing and interpretation. Have you ever tried to read after sleeping very well? You feel very refreshed and find out that you assimilate faster compared to when you did not get enough sleep prior to the reading.

Regular adequate sleep also keeps you alert: you have a sharp focus on your work at the office or at school, and you are less likely to have a car accident if you are driving according to some studies in the US due to the loss of attention that comes with poor sleep the night before.

Very important: children should be allowed to get enough sleep (9 to 10 hours of sleep or even more) a day on regular basis. This is because their brains are still developing (especially for those still under 10 years) and should have all the time to lay the solid foundations in terms of the neurons making connections with one another as children learn new things.

If you find it difficult to recollect/remember certain things, it may be that you have not had adequate sleep in a very, very long time.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: accident, brain, children, learning, long-term memory, mental health, sleep

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The way the health of the woman’s breasts is a much-discussed topic among women so should the health of the prostate be a topic of constant discussion among men. Why? As breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women in Nigeria and all over the world so is prostate cancer the commonest cancer in men in Nigeria and all over the world.

The prostate gland is a mass of tissue located at the neck of the bladder from where it extends to surround the beginning part of the urethra (the pipe-like structure that extends from the bladder neck to the tip of the penis and through which urine and sperm are passed to the outside). The structure that carries sperm from the testes joins the urethra within this prostate gland. The prostate gland produces secretions containing various chemicals that help maintain the health of sperm cells produced by the testes, and these secretions provide the fluid that carries the sperm cells as they are ejaculated outside during sexual intercourse.

The prostate gland has a normal size range which ensures that it does not block the neck of the bladder and part of the urethra within it, allowing the passage of urine or semen under the control of the man. However as a man advances in age, the size of his prostate gland starts increasing. By the age of 40 and above, some men may start having problems as regards urinating unlike before, and these problems may worsen in some as they approach 60 and 70 years of age. These problems may be one or more of the following:

1. Pushing or straining their lower abdomen to start urinating or taking too long before urine starts coming out even when in a very relaxed position and environment.

2. Dribbling of the urine instead of the normal full urine stream that shoots out

3. Stopping and starting several times whenever they are urinating unlike before when they urinate at one full stretch and flow

4. Having a sensation of not completely passing out every urine in your bladder whenever you finish urinating

5. Difficulty with holding urine whenever they feel like urinating such that if the man does not use a toilet immediately, he may urinate on himself without controlling it.

6. Always going to urinate again after less than one hour of a previous urination

7. Frequently waking up throughout the night to urinate.

The above problems are known as lower urinary symptoms which may also present in other health conditions such as urinary tract infection and diabetes mellitus. But for a man in his late 40s, 50s, 60s or 70s and above, the presence of some or all of these symptoms, no matter the level of severity, is an indicator that this man likely has a medical condition of the prostate gland which doctors call benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

BPH is a harmless tumour (not cancerous) of the prostate gland. This means enlargement of the prostate gland to a size way above the normal range. When this happens, the now enlarged prostate gland starts compressing the bladder neck and the beginning part of the urethra which it surrounds, altering the normal flow of urine from the bladder and the urethra to the outside: this is why the affected man starts experiencing the lower urinary symptoms stated above.

Once a man above 40 years starts experiencing some of these lower urinary symptoms, it is advisable to go to a hospital at once to see a specialist doctor (a surgeon) called a urologist. In this case, a teaching hospital, some private specialist hospitals or a federal medical centre is where one can find a urologist. A urologist is a medical doctor who is a specialist surgeon and treats both urinary and reproductive medical conditions of men using drugs and surgical operation as the case may be. It is the urologist who will take the man’s medical history, perform the necessary physical examinations and investigations on him to determine the current size of the prostate gland. After this, the urologist can prescribe the appropriate drugs or counsel him on the need for surgical operation on the prostate gland depending on its size and the severity of the lower urinary symptoms.

It is important to see a urologist very early because a delay or not seeing one at all will allow the prostate gland to keep increasing in size, further obstructing the outflow of urine from the bladder. With time, the urine stored in the bladder starts pushing back up the ureters (the two structures connecting the two kidneys with the bladder). This can cause formation stones in the bladder, recurrent urinary tract infection which can damage the kidneys over time, possibly leading to a chronic kidney disease and eventually kidney failure. At this point, regular dialysis and finally a kidney transplant will become the only option to save the man’s life. In very rare cases, an untreated enlarging prostate gland (BPH) may transform to prostate cancer.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, dialysis, kidney failure, kidney transplant, prostate cancer, prostate gland, urinary tract infection, urologist

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Is there a safest period for pregnancy in a woman’s life? A period when the likelihood of giving birth to a baby with an abnormality is very low. Well, there is scientific evidence that the older a woman becomes the higher her risk of being pregnant and having a baby with one form of abnormality or the other, the most common being Down Syndrome.

A baby is formed when a man’s sperm cell meets and fertilizes a woman’s egg (ovum) in the woman’s fallopian tube and the fused cell then rolls down to implant in one part of the wall of the uterus. A man produces new sperm cells (in the hundreds of millions every 3 days.

However, this is not the case for the woman. All the eggs in a woman (about 2 million in her ovaries) are already formed by the time she has been given birth to. She does not produce any additional eggs after birth. These eggs are known as follicles at this stage and many of them die out as the girl grows. By the time the girl reaches puberty (between 9 and 13 years) when she starts seeing her period, the number of eggs left is about 400,000.

From puberty onwards until menopause, the woman’s ovary expels (ovulation) one egg into her fallopian tube which may be fertilized by a sperm cell if she has sex around this time of ovulation; if she does not have sex, the ovulated egg breaks down and gets shed as menstrual flow along with the worn-out lining of the wall of the womb, marking the beginning of a new menstrual cycle. At the beginning of each menstrual cycle, over 50 eggs all start a journey to get ovulated, but only one in most cases get to be ovulated while the rest die out along the way. This ensures that only the healthiest egg gets successfully ovulated; the rest of the eggs that don’t make it usually contain one abnormality or the other in their chromosomes (the entire genetic makeup from the woman that contributes to 50% of the baby’s makeup).

As a woman gets older, especially after 35 years of age, more of her eggs begin to develop these chromosomal abnormalities and the higher the possibility that she may ovulate an egg with a chromosomal abnormality. This egg can become fertilized by a man’s sperm cell, leading to growth and development of a baby with an abnormality. If the abnormality is very severe, the woman’s body will naturally get rid of the baby at the very early stage in the form of a miscarriage. A less severe abnormality may see the baby survive and the woman giving birth to a child with conditions like Down Syndrome (these children look alike all over the world with a flat nose, big tongue, low-set ears and other features).

Complications in pregnancy such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus are more likely to occur in pregnant women who are above 35 years of age.

So, when is the safest period for a woman to be pregnant and have children? Based on multiple scientific studies, this period spans from the age of 20 to the early 30s (before 35 years), with the 20s being the most fertile period in a woman’s life.

This does not mean a woman cannot raise a family in her 30s and even 40s, but she will need the close attention of a medical doctor to ensure a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. This means planning for her pregnancy with her husband before she takes in: going for a comprehensive medical evaluation with her husband to rule out and treat/counsel any medical conditions and lifestyle that may affect pregnancy. This is known as preconceptional care and the couple should be on a family planning method for sex until they are certified healthy to get pregnant. When the woman gets pregnant, she must register for and receive antenatal care regularly and always visit her doctor any time she experiences something unusual.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: antenatal care, diabetes in pregnancy, down syndrome, hypertension in pregnancy, menopause, menstruation, ovulation, preconception care, pregnancy, puberty

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While breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding within the first 6 months after birth, is the standard for nutrition of babies, there are situations in which breastfeeding a baby may be harmful to both the baby and the mother. There are many of such circumstances and they include:
1. Adopted babies cannot be breastfed by their foster parents who are usually older. So the alternative to breast milk which is the formula milk becomes the baby’s food right from when he or she is adopted and after 6 months complementary foods like pap can be added.

2. If the mother of a baby has cancer and is receiving chemotherapy she should never breastfeed the baby. This is because the breakdown products of most anti-cancer drugs are excreted in breast milk and which will be ingested by the baby. Such products are very dangerous as their side effects include hair loss, bone marrow damage and destruction of other normal cells and tissues in the body which the mother may experience; imagine what such side effects can result to in a baby who is being breastfed by a mother on these anti-cancer drugs.

3. Mothers who are HIV-positive may choose to breastfeed their babies, but they must strictly adhere to giving the baby only breast milk for the first 6 months after which this is totally stopped and then the baby is placed on only formula milk and other complementary foods.

However, if the HIV-positive mother cannot strictly adhere to this exclusive breastfeeding for the 6 months, she should avoid breastfeeding the baby at all and place him or her on only formula milk. This is because mixed feeding (breastfeeding and also giving formula milk in-between) by HIV-positive nursing mothers increasing the risk of transmission of the virus to their babies if these babies are HIV-negative. Also important is the need for the HIV-positive mother to be regular on her anti-retroviral drugs while nursing her baby: this helps to keep the viral load low thereby reducing the risk of transmission, especially if she is doing the first 6 months exclusive breastfeeding option.

4. Mothers who undergo breast surgery, probably after childbirth, will not breastfeed their babies, especially when such an operation interferes with milk production by the breasts or she still has a surgical wound on her breasts.

5. Mothers who are chronic addicts of street drugs like cocaine or who are chronic alcoholics or who abuse prescription medicines like Tramadol may be putting their babies at a significant risk by breastfeeding especially if the drug abuse or chronic alcohol consumption lifestyle persists while they are nursing their babies. Such women should be advised to place their babies on formula milk.

6. There are babies who are born with an inherited disorder which causes the inability of their system to digest milk containing lactose (breast milk and most formula milk products). These babies will not survive on either breast milk or formula milk products and must be placed on soybean-based formula products to live.

How can a mother suspect her baby may have this disorder? If the baby is not gaining weight despite adequate breastfeeding and/or formula milk intake, the baby has jaundice (yellowish discolouration of the eyes), constant vomiting, convulsion, excessive crying. These babies may have other problems and usually die within days after birth from liver or kidney failure if the disorder is of the severe type. Hence, it is vital for a mother to pay close attention to her baby within the first one week after birth on how he or she is responding to breastfeeding or formula milk products and quickly see a specialist doctor (a paediatrician) once she notices any of the described symptoms.

In any of the above circumstances, the mother should seek the advice of a medical doctor on the right formula milk to place her baby on based on the baby’s age: there are formula milk products for babies aged one day to 6 months, for those between 6 and 12 months and for children aged 1 to 3 years. Such a mother should also be aware that formula feeding comes with its own challenges such as diarrhoea, constipation and allergic reactions like rashes in the baby. So mothers giving their babies formula milk products should watch out for these problems and report promptly to their doctors.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: babies who cannot digest breast milk, breast milk, cancer, diarrhoea, exclusive breastfeeding, formula milk, HIV-positive mothers, mother-to-child transmission of HIV, paediatrician, soybean-based formula feed

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It is always advisable and safe to engage in safe sex: you have one faithful partner that you are also faithful to; you make use of a condom if you have multiple sexual partners.

However, some people still find themselves engaging in unprotected sex which happens accidentally (it was not planned) some of the time: having a quick one-night stand without a condom with a partner you are just meeting for the first time and whose sexual history is unknown to you or even with someone you know who has multiple sexual partners. It can also be that the condom got torn during sexual intercourse or a situation in which a girl was raped.

Unprotected sex is very risky because it predisposes the person to sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea, syphilis; HIV. For a woman, there is the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy which can disrupt her education and career if she is a teenager and come from a family where the support is lacking.
So what should you do when you accidentally engage in an unprotected sex with someone with a questionable sexual history? Going to the hospital immediately after the incident should be next action. The doctor at the hospital will ask specific questions about the event and then draw out a plan on how to manage it. Such a plan does entail:

1. Preventing pregnancy in the case of a woman by giving the woman emergency contraception, the most common being the postinor 2 pill. Postinor 2 is a pill that is effective at preventing pregnancy in a woman if taken within 3 days of having sex without any contraceptive. It is most effective if taken within the first 24 hours: it comes as two pills, one taken immediately and the second pill taken 12 hours later.

Another method is the use of the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) especially for women who are fat as the postinor 2 may not be effective in them. The IUCD is inserted into the woman’s womb from her private part.

Do note that the postinor 2 have side temporary effects which some women may experience after taking it: dizziness, vomiting, heavy or scanty bleeding during their periods.

2. The person may be placed on anti-retroviral drugs for HIV (known as post-exposure prophylaxis) and drugs for common sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea if there are pointers that the sexual partner with whom the unprotected sexual intercourse was engaged in has a risky sexual lifestyle (a sex worker for example). While receiving the treatment, the person will be followed up to be screened for HIV a month or 3 months later (after the window period of HIV during which it can be detected by the screening test).

To get the best health outcome after having an unprotected sex, especially with a partner with a risky sexual lifestyle, it is important to visit a hospital as soon as possible after the incident. This will likely prevent a new HIV infection or sexually transmitted infection in the healthy partner and it will also prevent an unwanted pregnancy in a woman.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently building an online platform that will allow you consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Do follow us by liking us on Facebook so you get to know when we launch.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: anti-retroviral drugs, condom, emergency contraceptive pill, gonorrhoea, HIV, IUCD, safe sex, unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancy

For you consultation download our app here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swiftcheckup.app

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Do you know your genotype? Have you made any efforts to go check if you don’t yet know your genotype? Are you in any serious romantic relationship currently? A lot of people don’t know their genotype and many of these people still don’t find it very important to go do the test to know their genotype. However, a significant number of them are in a serious relationship that can lead to marriage.
What is the link between knowing your genotype and marriage? First, it is important what genotype. Genotype which doctors refer to as haemoglobin genotype is a medical test that shows the type of haemoglobin in your red blood cells. Haemoglobin is the chemical substance that gives the red blood cells their red colour; this chemical substance is also what holds the oxygen that red blood cells supply to every part of the body from the lungs.

Haemoglobin can be normal or abnormal. In adults, the normal haemoglobin is represented as A while the abnormal one has the S or C sign. Every adult’s haemoglobin genotype is designated as a pair which represents the two copies of the gene in the DNA that gives rise to the haemoglobin. The normal haemoglobin genotype is AA or AS while the abnormal one is SS or SC.

A haemoglobin genotype of AA is very normal; that of AS is also normal. But a genotype of SS or SC is what is known as sickle cell disease. People inherit their haemoglobin genotype from both of their parents at the time of conception. A man and a woman whose genotype is AA can marry; a man who is AA can marry a woman who is SS and vice versa.

However, it is not medically advisable for a man who is AS to marry a woman who is AS, SS or SC. If this happens, the couple is very much likely to give birth to a child or children who are SS. Now, sickle cell disease is a lifelong medical condition in which the red blood cells have abnormal shapes and die very prematurely (within 30 days instead of the usual 3 months): this leads to consistent shortage of red blood cells in the body in the absence of continued medical treatment. Many people with the condition in Nigeria die before their 50s; in fact, a lot of people who are SS die in childhood or during their teenage years because of the tasking nature and cost of healthcare needed to keep them stable which many parents may not be able to afford.

Having a child with sickle cell disease is very demanding and is not something anyone would want to do intentionally. This is why it is important to know your haemoglobin genotype and once you are in any relationship always ask your partner his or her own genotype. If such a partner does not know their genotype yet encourage them to go do the test. You may never know a relationship that could lead to marriage. Knowing your genotype and that of your partner very early will direct that relationship to the right outcome when it starts heading towards marriage and therefore save both of you any lifelong stress if your genotype is not compatible for marriage.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for, including the genotype test, with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently testing our new Android mobile app that allows you to consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your smartphone. Click here to download our Android mobile app, register and start asking our doctors questions on those health issues bothering you.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: genotype, genotype test, haemoglobin, lab test, marriage, mobile app, relationship, sickle cell

For you consultation download our app here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swiftcheckup.app

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Pregnancy is a normal condition which the body of a woman undergoes. This means that pregnancy is meant to go smoothly without any problems. But for this to happen, the woman's body must be in the healthiest state possible. And when the woman becomes pregnant, she must maintain this healthy state to carry the pregnancy to the appropriate time of delivery.
Antenatal care provides any pregnant woman access to medical attention that aims to keep her body healthy to carry her pregnancy to term. However, this antenatal care is not administered everyday even though many pregnant women, including many Mamalettes, usually have a lot of questions and concerns they need professional health advice and education on, on a regular basis.
As a result, most pregnant women have to wait until their next antenatal clinic day which is usually not enough to address all their questions and concerns, and they go home unsatisfied. This leads some to fall into the hands of quacks that put their pregnancy at great risk with the wrong information.
This is why we have built Swiftcheckup. Swiftcheckup is an online health consultation platform (mobile app and website) that allows any pregnant woman to privately chat in real-time with a verified human medical doctor about any questions and concerns she has as regards her pregnancy and get detailed expert health advice and education anytime anywhere from the comfort of her smartphone.
Nursing mothers can also talk to doctors on Swiftcheckup to get professional advice/answers on things like childhood immunization, breastfeeding, weaning a baby of breast milk; malaria, diarrhoea and convulsion in children.
All doctors on Swiftcheckup have been manually verified to make sure they are licensed to practise in Nigeria by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. We have general physicians, a pediatrician, a family physician; and many more specialist doctors will join us soon.
If you are a pregnant woman and always need professional health advice anytime, download the Android mobile app here and register to start learning from our doctors everything you need to have a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery before your next antenatal clinic day.
You get one free health consultation with a doctor when you sign up after which you have to pay a small fee, N500, any other time you want to chat with a doctor.
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Site : https://www.swiftcheckup.com/
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Nothing gives a pregnant woman in labour joy and wipes away memories of her labour pains like the cry of her newly born baby. For the doctor and nurses in the delivery room or in the operating theatre, a loud cry of a baby once he or she is delivered is an indication that the baby’s body systems are receiving the needed blood and oxygen and that the baby is fine.

Unfortunately, some babies fail to cry immediately after they are delivered or cry very weakly. When this happens it means the baby is in great danger and both the doctor and nurses try to stimulate the baby through suctioning the baby’s nostrils and mouth and assisting the baby to breathe using a special apparatus.

Failure of a baby to cry immediately after birth is usually due to the reduction of blood supply to the baby’s brain. This poor supply of blood to the baby’s brain happens while the baby is in the mother’s womb in the few weeks before she is due to deliver; it can also happen just before and during labour period leading to the birth of the baby.

Some of the conditions that can reduce blood supply to the brain of a baby while he or she is in the womb or during labour include:

1. Bleeding from the private part of the pregnant mother due to the premature tearing away of the placenta from the wall of the womb
2. Abnormal location of the placenta in the womb
3. Intake of hard drugs and alcohol by a pregnant woman
4. When the labour of a pregnant woman lasts much longer than what is normal due to the baby being too big to pass through the birth canal or a part of the baby’s body getting stuck in the birth canal
5. Rupture of a pregnant woman’s womb during labour
6. Disease conditions like hypertension, diabetes, sickle cell in a pregnant woman

A baby born premature or after 42 weeks of pregnancy may also fail to cry immediately after birth.

A baby who did not cry immediately he or she is delivered is at risk of some very bad medical conditions that may manifest later in life, like from 2 years after and throughout the adult life. These include a condition in which the now grown-up child is unable to stand or walk, talk or learn things unlike his age mates; such a child may also develop a type of epilepsy which he suffers for life.

The lesson here is registering for antenatal care very early (around 2 to 3 months) in a good hospital that has a qualified medical doctor and attending the antenatal clinics regularly will lead to the prevention of some the conditions that can reduce blood supply to a baby’s brain. Regular antenatal care will enable the early detection and treatment of other causes of this condition in a woman. It will guide the doctor to follow up such pregnant women to ensure their labour and delivery are under thorough supervision and done in a health care centre with the necessary facilities to get the baby to quickly cry if he or she fails to cry after birth.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently testing our new Mobile App that allows you to consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Click on the link below to download our mobile app, register and start asking our doctors questions on those health issues bothering you.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Mobile App : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swiftcheckup.app
Website : https://swiftcheckup.com

Tags: antenatal care, birth asphyxia, child birth, child delivery, diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, hypertension in pregnancy, sickle cell anaemia in a pregnant woman

Our body has a system called the immune system. The immune system is the army of our body: it is made up of cells, tissues, organs and chemical substances that work together to defend our body against disease-causing microorganisms and other foreign agents that have the potential of harming the body.

This immune system becomes better and stronger as one grows from a child into adulthood. This means the immune system is not that strong enough in childhood, especially in children who are less than 5 years of age with the immune system being the most fragile in the first one year. As a result, children who are less than 5 years old can easily come down with certain diseases when exposed to the microorganisms causing them, unlike an adult whose body may resist the microorganisms for a longer time before breaking down. Moreover, some of these diseases can easily kill children less than 5 years if immediate and appropriate medical treatment is not provided compared to an adult

In Nigeria, there are 5 disease conditions which have been found to be the most common causes of death in children less than 5 years of age if appropriate medical care is not administered to the affected child in the shortest possible time. The 5 disease conditions are:

1. Diarrhoea

If a child starts passing loose or watery stool (that is the stool or faeces is watery enough to take the shape of a container) about 3 times or more in 24 hours, then that child has diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea in children can be treated at home with ORS, zinc tablet and vitamin A. However, if the child continues stooling, especially stooling more times with each day that passes by, despite doing these home remedies, the mother should take the child to a hospital to see a doctor.

Failure to do so will likely lead to the child’s death as he or she will keep losing water and important mineral salts from the watery stool. In addition, the child will likely not have the appetite for any food and over time become malnourished, which contributes to the death of children with diarrhoea.

2. Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection of the tissues of the lungs which are in the chest. In children, pneumonia may manifest as fever and cough with an increased rate of breathing or difficulty with breathing in which the child will be gasping for breath; the child may also become breathless and the lips and tongue become dark at this point.

If your child, who is less than 5 years old, starts having fever or a cough or both of them and you give the normal paracetamol syrup, cough syrup and maybe an anti-malarial drug without any improvement in 2 days, please make sure you take the child to see a medical doctor in a hospital for proper evaluation. It could be that the child has pneumonia.

Many mothers make the mistake of continuing giving the medications for another few days with the hope that it is an ordinary cough or maybe malaria which will resolve until the child becomes worse. The child may become breathless or starts breathing too fast with time as the tissues of the lungs get damaged the more. Some children become unconscious. It is usually too late by the time the child is rushed to the hospital after wasting many days or a few weeks at home: the child dies at home, on the way to the hospital or in the hospital

3. Measles

Measles is a viral infection that easily kills children less than 5 years. This is because many parents still fail to bring their children for immunization against the measles virus when they are 9 months old.
immunization in children
Measles can affect the lungs of the child, the stomach and intestine, the brain, the eyes all of which can either kill the child or cause some serious long-term problems like blindness.

The most effective way to prevent measles in children less than 5 years is to make them available for immunization at exactly 9 months. Most children who receive the measles vaccine at 9 months develop immunity against the virus and will not come down with the infection even if they are exposed. And the vaccine is free of charge.

4. Malnutrition

In simple terms, malnutrition is a condition in which a child does not receive the minimum nutrients (adequate and quality food) needed for growth and development over a long period of time. When this happens it begins to manifest in the child’s weight and height and appearance.
malnourished child, child with diarrhoea
Because nutrients from quality food are necessary for life, long-term deprivation leads to poor growth and development. Malnourished children have low immunity (like someone with HIV) and can easily get infections, have low blood volume and other problems all of which lead to the death of most affected children if an immediate medical intervention is provided.

5. Malaria

It may sound funny or untrue, but malaria, if not treated at all or treated poorly, can easily lead to death in a child that is less than 5 years. Many parents buy anti-malarial drugs and give to their children whenever they have a fever and they feel it is malaria.
what happens to a child with malaria if he is not treated
In most cases, these parents give the drugs without knowing the right dose for that child’s age and weight even though most of the anti-malarial drugs contain the dosage information on their leaflets. Also, many mothers stop giving the drug once the fever stops: they don’t bother to complete the full course of the drug. Sometimes, the child may continue to have fever even after completing the drug at the right dosage. This means the malaria parasite load in the blood is very high.

Once a child less than 5 years starts having a fever, feels weak and still does not improve after 3 days of giving an anti-malarial drug, the mother should take him or her to the hospital to see a medical treatment for expert treatment. Failure to do this may cause rapid destruction of red blood cells, rapid reduction in blood sugar level, convulsion, very high fever, vomiting and coma in the child which can go on to kill the child.

If you have a child who is still less than 5 years, his or her health should be guarded with care. The food and water the child takes should be hygienically prepared; the child should sleep under an insecticide-treated mosquito net; he or she should be fed with locally available foods that are rich in protein and carbohydrates and other nutrients and the child should drink enough water always; mothers should endeavour to do exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months. Once the child starts coughing, has a fever, is vomiting or stooling and does not get better one or two days of giving drugs at home, take him or her to see a medical doctor in a hospital.

Don’t forget you can conveniently book that lab test your doctor requested for with any of our partner labs closest to you. Just click on Swift Checkup to schedule the medical test with a lab.

We are currently testing our new Android mobile app that allows you to consult verified medical doctors on any health issues from the comfort of your mobile phone. Click on this link here to download our mobile app, register and start asking our doctors questions on those health issues bothering you.

Written by Dr. Okechukwu Amako, MB;BS (Ibadan)

Tags: child with diarrhoea, convulsion, cough syrup, exclusive breastfeeding, fever, immunization, malaria, malaria drug, malaria injection, malnutrition, measles, ORS, pneumonia in children, vomiting

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