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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Four the merrier: Its quadruplets
Laws, now and then, surely need to be relaxed? Especially when it comes to the health of mothers like Sewandi Hettiarachchi, pregnant with quadruplets and unable to work due to medical reasons? In the case of special pregnancies should not the authorities concerned grant the mothers-to-be, paid-pre-natal leave? by Aditha Dissanayake "What does it feel like to have a baby growing inside you?" asks Yerma from her friend in Garcia Lorca's play of the same name, "Yerma". "Have you ever held a bird cupped in your hands? That's what its like to have a baby growing inside you" explains her friend and adds the chilling words "in your blood"! On December 8, 2005, at Castle Street Hospital I ask almost the same question from Sewandi Hettiarachchi, but with a slight modification. "What does it feel like to have four babies growing inside you?" Instead of answering my question Sewandi takes my hand into hers and places it on her stomach.
"Do you feel them move? They kick me ever so often". No. I feel nothing. Right at the moment all four are quiet. Are they quiet because they are listening to our conversation? Are they quiet because they have realised the significance of this interview, or rather the significance of making the Department of Public Administration from terminating Sewandi's salary because doctors have placed her on bed-rest and she cannot report to work? The answer will probably be evident when they come out into the world because the time Sewandi spends on bed-rest can make a positive difference in the health of the babies assisting them in gaining weight and completing their development. Sewandi , a graduate from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, lives in Anuradhapura and has been newly appointed as a teacher under the scheme which provided employment for graduates, recently. She says even though she was pregnant with quadruplets when she got her appointment as a teacher at the Anuradhapura Technical College yet she managed to work there for three months. Even though this was against the advice of the doctors, she had managed the three months of work, thanks to the help of the staff and the principal. But when Dr. Ravi Walisinghe, the VOG at Anuradhapura General Hospital advised her to get herself admitted to a hospital in Colombo because the General Hospital in Anuradhapura does not have the special care nursery facilities needed for the babies, she had had to stop going to work. Her husband Ruwan Subasinghe had come to Colombo with her, even though this meant giving up his only means of earning a living. "I work as a driver in Anuradhapura. I can't leave Sewandi alone in hospital in Colombo and go back to Anuradhapura" says Ruwan. Living now with his sister in Panadura, Ruwan visits Sewandi during visiting hours everyday bringing her her meals. "I have to feed her" he says smiling at Sewandi. "Because if I don't she throws out, everything she eats". The sparkle of emotions in his eyes is however, lost on Sewandi because with downcast eyes she grasps her hips with her hands and squirms in pain. She finds it difficult to sit on the cushioned chair. Time to leave? Time to let her get back to the ward? No. Sewandi has more to say. "Please don't let them terminate my salary. Ask them to treat me as a special case because I am having quadruplets and doctors have advised me to be warded here at the Castle street hospital.". Full of praise for the staff of the hospital, for Dr. Ajita Wijesundere Consultant Obstetrician and gynaecologist, and Dr. Rasika Herath, Registrar, Ruwan adds even though they have produced all the medical reports to the authorities, Sewandi's salary has nevertheless been terminated. Here is surely a special case where the laws should be relaxed? "My sisters have helped me with the clothes for the babies but it will mean so much if we can be helped with the other expenses" says Sewandi. In four weeks time they look forward to returning to Anuradhapura with their four babies. "We have a house which we built ourselves. Its small, with only two bedrooms but we will live in it because there is no room at our ancestral houses". But all is not right here too. The house doesn't have electricity. Sewandi, however, is determined to manage somehow or the other. End of "visiting hours". Time now to leave. "Please come to see our babies in January" invites Ruwan. Perhaps on the night they are born four stars will shine in the sky and like the three wisemen, you will make your way to their cradles to help Sewandi and Ruwan with their new family. Everybody who wishes to assist them can write to Sewandi Hettiarachchi, No 46, Sinnikulama Housing Scheme, Anuradhapura. Undoubtedly, every pregnancy and every baby is special, even though its an experience that has happened countless number of times to countless couples. But surely it must be momentous when you are told you will be mum and dad four times over? Excited and overwhelmed by this news as Sewandi and Ruwan prepare themselves for the new and dauntingly unfamiliar world of bringing up four babies, its only natural that everyone should help them to give their babies the best possible start in life. |
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