Anaemia, in medical parlance, relates to the reduction of the number of red blood cells (RBCs) or, the amount of haemoglobin therein. Resultantly, the amount of oxygen that the blood is able to carry gets reduced. By implication, the supply of oxygen to the body cells is negatively affected. This shows off in the performance of body functions. Besides the muscular activity, cell building & repairing slows down and becomes less efficient. Dizziness, for example, happens to be the outcome of shortage in the supply of oxygen to brain cells.
But in social idiom, anaemia signifies poverty and destitution. It implies suppression of women’s Agency. It is broadly the way they are the way Sarita is.
This toiling class woman of Jeoli panchayatareas was well aware of her anaemic conditions and worried about her four-month-old pregnancy. The private physician she could attend proved to be a fiasco. In the meantime, our health team came to her rescue. The Swasthaya sakhi virtually took her to the Health Camp, where she was examined by Senior Gynaecologist, Dr Neerja Singh.
Diagnostic tests only confirmed her anaemic conditions, with haemoglobin level dipping down to 7.5 g/dl. But the physician gave her the confidence to fight the disease and extended helping hand. And she did. She fought back and attained the level of 10.4 g/dl in a couple of months. The results were showing on her face and body.
Her treatment and medical compliances continued until she finally delivered a male child normally in the District Hospital.
