For most mothers in developing countries, ante-natal visits, post-natal visits and immunization visits are usually very cumbersome, tiring and not very friendly. This is because there are very few affordable hospitals, few health workers, lots of mothers and babies to attend to and selected days for services to be provided to this huge number of clients.
I have visited health centers and I have seen huge crowds. I have found myself asking severally how is this possible? Many new moms leave their homes as early as 6am in the morning for immunization and on getting to the General Hospital they struggle to receive the services. The health workers do not start until 9am sometimes 10am and then they have a huge crowd to attend to. Babies are screaming, mothers are anxiously waiting for their turns and the nurses are battling to reduce the numbers and also make sure they are doing the right thing the right way.
It is also a fact that some moms are not too sure of which of the vaccines their babies take at each milestone; the new mom is given a card at the first immunization visit but some of them do not understand the uniqueness of each vaccine and sometimes loose the cards or skip the vaccines that are considered expensive.
Below is a childhood vaccination schedule that will guide you on the various vaccines and when the child needs to be vaccinated.
At Birth: BCG, Oral Polio (OPV) and Hepatitis B(HBV)
6 Weeks: DPT-Diptheria Petusis, Tetanus, Oral Polio, Hepatitis B and Hib Heamophulus Influenza Type
10 Weeks: DPT, Oral Polio, Hib
14 Weeks: DPT, Oral Polio and Hib
20 Weeks: Rotarix (Rotarix Vaccine)
24 Weeks: Rotarix (second dose)
9 Months: Vitamin A, Measles, Hepatitis B (HBV3), Yellow Fever,
12-15 Months: MMR (Measles, Mump and Rubella) and Chicken Pox
From 2 Years: Typhoid Fever and Meningitis
My next post on Immunization, I will do a research on the prices of these vaccines so that as a parent you can prepare in advance on how much you’ll be expected to pay. I ‘ll also be comparing prices with private owned hospitals and public hospitals.
It is very important to note that to ensure protection, your child will need to complete the whole course of immunization.
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