The painful story of how Aunty Jemimah lost her unborn baby

Radio presenter Aunty Jemimah. (Courtesy/Instagram)

Radio presenter Aunty Jemimah, has opened up about her experience with losing her child to Gestational Diabetes, a condition that can develop during pregnancy and cause high blood sugar levels in the mother.

In an emotional interview with Kamau Mwangi, Jemimah shared that the loss of her child was a traumatic experience for her. She explained that the condition was not detected early enough, and that the day she was scheduled to go for a test, she postponed it due to other commitments. She later found out that her baby had died a day or two before she arrived at the hospital, just six weeks before her due date.

"We lost the baby due to Gestational Diabetes. It was not detected early enough, the day I was to go for the test I postponed it as I had something else I was doing...I do not know exactly at what point the baby died," said Jemimah.

The loss was devastating for Jemimah, who immediately sought therapy to help her cope with her grief. However, she found that therapy did not entirely alleviate the pain and emotional triggers that she experienced. The hospital records, seeing other pregnant women and children, and other reminders of her loss continued to trigger her, causing her to break down in tears in the middle of her radio show.

"There are so many triggers. I lost the baby in September and seeing other people's kids would trigger me, seeing other women pregnant also triggered me," she said.

In an earlier interview with Mungai Eve, Jemimah narrated how she lost her daughter, despite having a smooth 34 weeks' pregnancy journey. Her water broke, and she went into labor immediately after arriving at the hospital. After a few checkups of the heartbeat, Jemimah realized that her baby had no foetal activity, and she was induced, but her baby arrived sleeping. The experience broke her, as she emotionally remembered how beautiful her late daughter was, weighing 2.2kg.

Despite the heartbreak of losing her child, Jemimah found the strength to carry on and try for another pregnancy. However, the experience of carrying a baby after losing one is a challenging journey, according to Jemimah. She was constantly worried and had to take medication for her gestational diabetes. She took nine sugar level tests every day, which also affected her blood pressure, adding to her anxiety.

"Carrying a baby after loss is a tough journey because you are constantly worried. I was on constant medication because of gestational diabetes. I would take nine tests of my sugar level every day. I am an over thinker so I was constantly worried," Jemimah said.

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Despite these challenges, Jemimah was overjoyed to welcome her second child into the world, and the experience of hearing her baby cry for the first time was an incredible gift, which she says made her feel like she had been born again.

"The first time I pushed a dead baby, so when I delivered this second child, I felt like I had been born again. She is perfect."

Aunty Jemimah has advised couples to embrace therapy and talk about loss, acknowledging that the experience of losing a child is traumatic and may take a long time to heal.