Another newborn…

No, this is not another of those out-of-wedlock pregnancies. No headache for me this time.

Remember Asiah? She got HIV from her first husband, then remarried and the present husband had been tested negative. While I was just getting over the hoo hahs of handling Sharifah’s case earlier this year, I found out from Asiah that she got pregnant despite supposedly practicing safe sex with her husband. I’m not sure if they used the condom correctly though… many people tend to think they know how to properly use the condom but in actual fact, they don’t.

Anyway, Asiah’s husband at first wanted her to go for abortion. He thought if the mother is HIV positive, then the baby is sure to be infected as well. Asiah however was reluctant and consulted me about it. I told her about the other cases where almost all the babies have been spared from the virus. The important thing is to take all the necessary precautions. I told her to quickly inform SN so they could give the necessary ARV to protect the baby.

The husband was finally convinced to let Asiah keep the baby. And so they have been commuting from their place to Ipoh GH quite often – to O&G clinic and to ID clinic.

Finally on Tuesday I received a text message from Asiah. She had delivered a baby boy and was at the maternity ward. I told her I’d try to visit her the next day (which was yesterday) if I had the time. I didn’t bother to find out from her which room she was in. They always send the HIV cases to the end room and I’ve been there a few times to visit my other clients as I always get the pregnant cases passed to me.

So after my asar prayer off I went to the hospital. A kampong-folk of mine works at the maternity ward and more often than not, whenever I visit someone at the ward, she always seem to be on duty. It has been a few months since my last visit to the maternity ward, so when she saw me, she asked, “Tengok siapa?” I just said, “Bilik hujung” and she immediately nodded without asking further. By now she’d notice that I always visit the HIV cases so although she never asked, I think she should already be able to tell.

When I got to the room, both Asiah and her husband were there. The moment the husband saw me, he gave his chair to me and told me he was going to visit his baby boy who was at the pediatric ward. By now I am used to the fact that he always makes his disappearing act whenever I appear. Not sombong, just segan I guess…

Asiah told me that her husband had not gone home since Monday when Asiah had to be warded. Their home is more than an hour drive away and the husband could not afford to commute every day. He didn’t have the heart to leave Asiah alone either. Initially he thought he’d sleep at the nearby mosque, but the mosque is locked every night after ‘Isya prayers. So for the past few nights Asiah’s husband had been sleeping in the car. Poor thing.

Such a responsible husband, don’t you think? Well yes, if you see it from Asiah’s point of view, maybe. I wonder what his first wife has to say…

Oh, have I ever mentioned that Asiah is his second wife?