The psychological effects of giving birth to a child with meromelia

Abstract

We present the case of an elderly multigravida from a rural area, who was unbooked, with a history of poor antenatal care in her previous pregnancies and bad obstetric history, who delivered a still baby with phocomelia at Tiwani Hospital Gboko Benue state Nigeria. She was a long standing tobacco smoker and an alcoholic with a history of regular ingestion of traditional herbs. Since bearing such a child is considered a taboo in this environment; she became psychologically depressed, but was successfully managed and rehabilitated. Such an occurrence would have been well prevented with proper antenatal care, bearing in mind the recognized possible causes.

Key Words: Meromelia, Rural, Prevention, Psychological, Rehabilitate.