Lifestyle

Why pregnant women with previous CS shouldn’t use PHCs for antenatal care

Published

11 months ago

October 7, 2025

Maternal health experts have urged pregnant women with a history of two caesarean sections to register and receive antenatal care in secondary and tertiary health facilities rather than in Primary Healthcare Centres.

They noted that pregnant women with such a history have a high-risk pregnancy and need expert care and facilities that the PHCs do not have.

The gynaecologists, in separate interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, emphasised that early antenatal registration at the appropriate centre would help to prevent delays and complications, which could be life-threatening for both mother and baby.

The reproductive health experts also urge expectant mothers with hypertension, diabetes before or during pregnancy or a history of miscarriages to register and attend antenatal care in higher-level facilities such as general and tertiary hospitals.

They urged every pregnant woman to register and attend antenatal care in registered hospitals to ensure they receive the best care and prevent avoidable complications and deaths.

PUNCH Healthwise reports that pregnant women should register and begin antenatal care as soon as pregnancy is confirmed with a positive test, ideally within the first eight to 12 weeks.

PUNCH Healthwise also reports that expectant mothers who have undergone two caesarean sections should not attempt vaginal birth to prevent the rupture of the uterus and bleeding.

Severe bleeding after childbirth is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.

High blood pressure disorders during pregnancy, infections and complications from unsafe abortions are contributors to maternal deaths.

The 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey puts Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate at 512 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise on the matter, a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Chris Aimakhu, explained that while low-risk pregnancies could be safely managed at primary healthcare facilities, women with high risk pregnancies, including those who have previously undergone caesarean deliveries, need specialist care, which is available in general and tertiary healthcare centres.

Aimakhu said, “Every pregnant woman should access antenatal care. But those with high-risk conditions such as previous CS, hypertension or diabetes must be managed in facilities that can handle emergencies. A primary health centre does not have the capacity to perform a caesarean section. If such women are booked there, it puts both mother and child at serious risk.”

He noted that many primary healthcare centres, especially in rural communities, are poorly staffed and often run without doctors, midwives or round-the-clock services, leaving them unequipped to handle obstetric emergencies.

“In situations where a woman with a previous CS registers in a PHC, and complications arise, delays in referral may lead to avoidable maternal or neonatal deaths,” the don added.

The gynaecologist further asserted that antenatal care was not optional, lamenting that Nigeria still records high maternal mortality due to preventable causes such as postpartum bleeding and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

The maternal expert, however, clarified that not all pregnant women need to register at teaching hospitals, stating that women who register in PHCs and are in need of specialist care should be immediately referred to the appropriate centres.

“Low-risk patients can safely receive care in PHCs or secondary hospitals if those centres know what they can handle. But once a patient has a history of caesarean deliveries, she belongs to the high-risk category.

“The key is not only access but timely access. If a facility knows it cannot handle a case, it must not keep the woman until it is too late,” Aimakhu asserted.

Also, the president of the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health, Professor Preye Fiebai, dispelled the notion that all pregnant women must seek antenatal care in tertiary hospitals, stressing that well-equipped primary health centres can effectively manage uncomplicated pregnancies.

“Antenatal care doesn’t have to be in a tertiary hospital. If we have good primary health care, you can start from there. Ideally, the essence of primary care is to identify those who require higher care and then refer them, but most people go straight to the teaching hospital. However, you can still receive good antenatal care if the setup of your primary healthcare system is good and you have qualified people to run it, and you can start from there.

“Mind you, some people go to private hospitals also and if you can afford it, why not?” the reproductive health expert said.

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Lifestyle

🔥 A HARD QUESTION FOR CHRISTIAN WIVES: WHY DO YOU RESPECT YOUR PASTOR MORE THAN YOUR HUSBAND?

Published

8 hours ago

August 29, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

Some wives can stand before their pastor with a gentle voice, a respectful attitude, and complete attention. They will never speak to their pastor the way they speak to their husband at home.

But when they get home, the respect disappears.

Is that really the kind of Christian character God wants?

Before you get angry with this question, examine yourself.

📖 Ephesians 5:33 (KJV) says:

“…and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”

The Bible does not tell a wife to reverence her pastor while treating her husband with contempt.

But let us also be fair: God did not command husbands to demand respect while refusing to love their wives.

📖 Ephesians 5:25 (KJV):

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

Marriage is not a competition between husband and pastor.

Your pastor may preach to you, counsel you, and pray for you—but your husband is the person you chose to build a life with.

If you can speak politely to your pastor, why can’t you speak politely to your husband?

If you can listen patiently to your pastor, why can’t you listen patiently to your husband?

If you can honor your pastor publicly, why must your husband receive disrespect privately?

And husbands, this message is for you too:

You cannot demand the respect you refuse to give.

📖 1 Peter 3:7 (KJV):

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife…”

A Christian home should not be a place where one person demands submission while the other refuses to show love.

Respect should go both ways. Love should go both ways. Honor should go both ways.

📖 1 Corinthians 16:14 (KJV):

“Let all your things be done with charity.”

🔥 THE REAL QUESTION IS THIS:

If your pastor saw the way you speak to your husband at home, would he recognize the same Christian character you display in church?

👇 BE HONEST:

Do you think some Christians give their pastor more respect than they give their spouse?

YES or NO? Tell us why in the comments.

And if this message challenged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

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Lifestyle

WHEN MAJOR DECISIONS ARE KEPT HIDDEN, THE FOUNDATION OF A MARRIAGE BEGINS TO CRUMBLE

Published

8 hours ago

August 29, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

Marriage is built on trust, honesty, communication, and unity. When one spouse begins making major decisions in secret—especially decisions involving money, family, relationships, property, or the future of the home—the damage can go deeper than the decision itself. Secrecy creates suspicion, suspicion weakens trust, and when trust disappears, the foundation of the marriage begins to crumble.

The Bible says:

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
— Ephesians 4:25 (KJV)

Husband and wife are no longer two separate people living independent lives; they have become one. Therefore, major decisions that affect the family should not be hidden from one another. Transparency is not weakness—it is a sign of respect and commitment.

The Bible declares:

“And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.”
— Mark 10:8 (KJV)

If a decision will affect your spouse, your children, your finances, your home, or your future, your spouse deserves to know. A marriage cannot remain strong when one person knows the truth while the other is deliberately kept in the dark.

Scripture also teaches:

“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”
— Proverbs 14:15 (KJV)

Wisdom requires communication before action. Before making major decisions, husband and wife should sit down, talk honestly, listen to each other, pray together, and seek understanding. A decision made secretly may appear successful for a moment, but the consequences of broken trust can remain for years.

The Bible says:

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
— Amos 3:3 (KJV)

Agreement does not mean that husband and wife will always have the same opinion. It means they are willing to communicate, consider each other’s concerns, and work toward a common direction.

A marriage should not be a place where secrets are protected at the expense of trust. Privacy has its place, but deliberate secrecy about major matters can become destructive. If something is important enough to change the direction of the family, it is important enough to be discussed.

Remember:

A marriage does not usually collapse because of one big decision. Sometimes it begins to crumble through repeated secrecy, hidden actions, broken promises, and the gradual destruction of trust.

Therefore, husbands and wives should choose truth over deception, communication over silence, unity over selfishness, and wisdom over impulsive decisions.

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.”
— Ecclesiastes 4:9 (KJV)

If you want your marriage to remain strong, do not make your spouse a stranger to decisions that shape the life you are supposed to build together. Talk. Listen. Pray. Be honest. Build trust before the cracks become too deep to repair.

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Lifestyle

WHAT YOU DO IN SECRET CAN SHOUT IN PUBLIC

Published

14 hours ago

August 29, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

Many people are careful about what they do when others are watching, but character is revealed by what a person does when nobody is watching. You may hide your actions from people, but nothing is hidden from God.

The Bible says:

“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.”
— Luke 12:2 (KJV)

What you think is safely hidden today may become tomorrow’s testimony. Secret lies, secret corruption, secret betrayal, secret immorality, and secret wickedness may remain unknown to people for a while, but they do not remain hidden forever.

Numbers 32:23 warns:

“Be sure your sin will find you out.”
— Numbers 32:23 (KJV)

Therefore, do not live two different lives—one before people and another behind closed doors. Do not build a public reputation while secretly destroying your character.

Jesus also said:

“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.”
— Matthew 10:26 (KJV)

The best protection against public shame is private integrity. Do what is right even when nobody can see you. Speak the truth when lying would benefit you. Be faithful when nobody is checking. Refuse what is wrong even when you know you could get away with it.

God sees what people cannot see:

“For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.”
— Job 34:21 (KJV)

Remember, reputation is what people know about you, but character is who you really are when the doors are closed.

If you have something in your secret life that you would be ashamed for the whole world to discover, do not wait until it is exposed. Correct it now. Turn away from wrongdoing and choose righteousness.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
— Proverbs 28:13 (KJV)

What you do in secret can eventually shout in public. Therefore, live in such a way that your private life will not contradict your public image. Let your character be clean when nobody is watching, so you will have nothing to fear when everything is brought to light.

Live right. Be honest. Keep your heart clean. What is hidden from people is never hidden from God.

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