Breaking the silence: Being a deaf mum in Kenya is hell!

Maria Likuyachi, who was orphaned as a baby, is believed to have been born hearing but became deaf at infancy.
Now 35 and a mother of two, Maria, who has a certificate in catering and dressmaking from the Mumias School for the Deaf, had to quit her job because her pregnancy demanded frequent hospital visits, which consumed most of her time.

“I discussed it with my husband and we saw it fit that I quit my job to take care of the children,” she says.
Pregnancy is a challenge for most women, but an uphill task for women with hearing disability. According to Maria, the challenges of being a deaf mother start with the expressing how the pregnancy is developing and explaining how you’re feeling, but the worst was during delivery.