Dispelling myths on sexual organ disorders in babies
Medics could not tell the sex of her child after she delivered at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) early this year.
Ms Phyllis Wambui, 29, has delayed naming her first child until doctors establish whether it is a boy or a girl. “My pregnancy was normal and I delivered on time … nurses could however, not tell the sex of my baby,” Wambui says.
Some of her neighbours in Kiambu say the five-month baby could be a curse and threaten to kick her out.
“Doctors at KNH told me the disorder of my baby can be surgically corrected,” she says.
Her child is among many born with complications on sexual and reproductive organs but lucky to seek medical correction early. “I have not even started the process of acquiring a birth certificate since I don’t know which gender to indicate,” she says.
Doctors told Wambui her baby has ambiguous genitalia, a situation that makes it difficult to determine the sex.
Aga Khan University Hospital Consultant Paediatrician Mary Limbe says although more cases of hormonal disorders are being reported by hospitals, some parents hid their children believing that the complications are a curse.
Ambiguous genitalia
She says common abnormalities include ambiguous genitalia, undescended testicles and diabetes.
Hormone disorders involve either an overproduction by hyperactive glands or a deficiency of a certain hormone by hypoactive glands.
The disorders may result from problems in the endoctrine gland that is responsible for production of the hormone and pituitary gland thus, sending wrong signals to the body.
There are many different causes of hormonal disorders and some may be genetically linked like diabetes or involve nutritional factors.
Several mothers whose babies had similar reproductive disorders attend a free paediatric endocrinology programme in hospitals in Nairobi. The programme deals in with abnormal physical and sexual development, diabetes and general hormonal disorders in children.
Detected early
Limbe says the reproductive conditions are mainly attributed to hormonal disorders.
“Ambiguous genitalia are among the disorders children are born with that can be corrected if detected early,” Dr Limbe says.
She says cases of children born with myriad complications on their private parts are neither new nor taboo.
“We have handled cases of boys born with scrotums but no testis – a disorder is referred to as undescended testicles,” Limbe says.
Testicles of babies should move down in the abdomen through abdominal wall and groin to take its normal position in the scrotum before birth.
Medical journals say undescended testicles are higher in premature babies while three quarters of the cases descend within the first three months of life.
Published on the Standard on 30/07/2009 By Harold Ayodo
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