Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THERE is a difference of opinion among health experts on how to stop the menstrual periods of the 10-year-old girl from Matobo District with a disability who is being taken care of by her father.
Some medical experts have prescribed that she gets medication to stop menstruation until there is a female caregiver while others feel it is a problem that needs a social solution and not a medical one. Specialist gynaecologist and obstetrician Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said there was an option for the child if the parent and family were willing to take the route of stopping menstruation temporarily, adding that these days due to modern diets girls start menstruation earlier compared to the past.
“I agree that this is quite a burden for a man to be changing sanitary pads for his child. I also urge that some help be offered to him so that he does not have to go through this traumatic experience. Also, for the daughter, it is quite traumatic for her to know that the father has to do this job. The use of contraceptives is allowed and can be of help to the child’s advantage in that the menstrual cycle can be stopped and the father does not have to experience it too. Once there is a carer who is a female, the drugs can be withdrawn and menstruation will resume, this will be a temporary measure, it has no effects on the female reproductive cycle,” said Prof Ngwenya.
Asked about the downside of introducing contraceptives to a 10-year-old, Prof Ngwenya said the advantages outweigh the side effects.
“There are not many disadvantages, as I said the drugs are quite safe and reversible so the benefits outweigh any other effects that people may be worried about. As an expert in women’s health and contraceptive use, I recommend that they are helped with a long-term contraceptive that does not allow the child to menstruate. They are best advised to see a health expert who will decide upon which method is best and they administer it on a regular basis and review the child and maintain that,” he said.
Prof Ngwenya added that the family should make sure that the menstruation was temporarily halted and encouraged family bonds like the extended family to help the father look after the child.
Another city gynaecologist and obstetrician explained the options but suggested a non-medical solution for the Matobo girl saying there were other alternatives.
“It is possible to stop the periods in two ways, we can put the patient on drugs which will disable the reproductive hormone cycle and lead to cessation of periods. The downside is that when the patient is no longer producing oestrogen secondary sexual development stops, bones become weak and growth and development are altered. Secondly, we could remove her womb but obviously that infringes on the right of the child to engage in future procreation. So, it is out of the question,” he said without wanting to be named.
He then suggested that the child’s problems were more social than medical.
“There are institutions in Bulawayo that have the capacity to take the child for now while efforts to get a female caregiver are underway. King George VI can take her in and even St Francis Home in Famona where assistance can be sought rather than introducing hormones into her system this early. Remember it is normal to menstruate. A caregiver can quickly be looked for in the form of a nurse aide who can wash the girl, and change her diapers daily in the absence of menstruation, a woman is best fit to take up that role. This is a social problem that needs social solutions,” said.
The doctor said stopping menstruation with drugs would cause secondary sexual development delays like pubic hair growth, breast development, and many others. Renowned historian and African culture researcher, Mr Pathisa Nyathi weighed in saying menstruation has its taboos regarding male involvement.
“The set-up (in Matobo) is not right, it is probably coming from an onslaught on the African extended family. We are in a situation where we are copying other people in all spheres of life. In a proper traditional set-up, there would have been women’s relatives because that mother was not born alone in an African sense, that father has brothers and sisters, not necessarily from the same mother or same father. In a traditional set-up they would be there to come in and support,” said Mr Nyathi.
He said women have been in charge of that from the beginning.
“Menstruation was not a matter for men, no, it is for women who are taught about it, they would have expected it anyway and would have been taught how to take care of their body during that time. There are certain related taboos and observances around menstruation known to women, generally, men know very little, all they know is about boundaries for women who are still young and menstruation. Among the Ndebele people, a young girl of menstruating age was prohibited from entering the cattle pen as it was believed that the condition of the girl would neutralise ibaso/umthuso (traditional muthi).”
Mr Nyathi said while it was taboo to ask a woman if she was menstruating, they simply did not allow those who were in that stage of development in the cattle pen. The 10-year-old who is wheelchair-bound, was deserted by her mother and left under the care of her father Mr Kelvin Ndlovu who is responsible for washing her, changing her diapers, and taking care of her menstrual needs. — @NyembeziMu
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