“I can’t urinate on my own. It flows whether I am standing or sitting, and I don’t feel it,” the woman, who wants to be known as Ruth for fear of stigmatization, told The Fourth Estate. “I always have to use diapers.”

Ruth’s ordeal began after the birth of her fourth child at the Ashaiman Polyclinic. Having delivered her first three children naturally, she was determined to do the same with the fourth.

But plans changed when complications arose, and the doctor decided on a Caesarean Section (CS). According to Ruth, the medical team attributed the need for the CS to the baby’s weight.

However, The Fourth Estate has not been able to establish the birth weight of Ruth’s baby as she claims she lost her antenatal record book in tense, bureaucratic exchanges with the polyclinic.

Before the CS, she was fitted with a urinary catheter (a standard for surgical procedures), but it never drained her urine as intended. Rather than flowing through the catheter, her urine leaked onto her body.

For four days in the hospital, the catheter remained in place, yet the problem persisted. Discharged with the same faulty setup, Ruth quickly realized something had gone wrong.

“After the operation, I experienced issues with my urethra,” she recounts. “I don’t feel the urge to urinate; it just happens. I only notice when it is flowing on me.”

Lost Dignity

Conversations she overheard during postnatal care suggested she might have suffered bladder or urethral damage. An eventual diagnosis revealed vesicovaginal fistula, an abnormal opening between the bladder and the vagina that causes uncontrollable urine leakage.

Fistula often results from difficult childbirth, certain surgical complications, or radiotherapy. For Ruth, the cause seems linked to her CS.

She asked to have the catheter removed so she could at least manage with diapers, but the leakage continued, leaving her with unrelenting embarrassment.

She often avoids public spaces: the strong odour during bus rides triggers curious stares, and even in church, she fears soiling herself if she sits for a few minutes.

“I’m not able to go to church,” she said. “I will soil myself if I sit right now, so I always stand. At the market, if I sit, by the time I get home, I’m completely soaked in urine. I feel shy and use unapproved routes to avoid people.”

To compound her misery, she also struggles with defecation. Health professionals describe it as obstructed defecation or dysphasia, meaning she cannot push or pass stool unless she has diarrhea.

Beyond her physical agony, Ruth’s incontinence has financial implications. She is the breadwinner for her family, earning GHS600 monthly by selling beef at the Ashaiman Market.

Her husband, who once operated a commercial motorbike business, is out of business after he sold his motorbike to cover Ruth’s early medical bills.

With four children to feed, she can barely afford her own diapers and medication. On some days, she relies on old clothes as makeshift pads because she has no money for proper diapers.

“My husband’s job has been affected. He’s at home, and I’m the only one going out, trying to find something for us to eat. It has been really difficult,” she says. “Sometimes, I spend more than GHS200 a day on medications. I earn so little, but it all goes toward drugs. Yet my situation is the same.”

Ruth believes negligence at the Ashaiman Polyclinic caused her condition and blames one Dr Osei T. Owusu, the attending doctor at the time she delivered her last child.

She says multiple follow-ups at the facility yielded no solution beyond a referral to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Expecting some accountability from the polyclinic, she felt abandoned when she was simply told her problem required more specialized care elsewhere.

At the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ruth was told she needed surgery to correct the fistula, but she had to wait three months for her caesarean wounds to heal.

Financial constraints prevented her from returning, leaving her to endure the constant leakage. “They mentioned a figure that could buy a car,” she recalls, unable to provide the precise cost but certain it was far beyond her means.

Her husband, Lawson, feels equally helpless. He was once an amateur goalkeeper and an ‘okada’ rider, but the income from that job was spent covering Ruth’s mounting medical expenses. Their intimate life has also suffered as a result of Ruth’s condition, he says.

“We are unable to have sex,” he lamented. “We haven’t done anything since our last child was born because of her problem.”

“My wife wasn’t like this before we went to the hospital,” Lawson laments. “But after the CS, this is our situation. The operation wasn’t done well. They made a mistake.”

Despite the distress, Ruth and Lawson continue to pursue justice. They want the Ashaiman Polyclinic to acknowledge any wrongdoing, help treat and resolve her condition, and compensate them for the hardship they have endured.

She also appeals for public support, hoping her story may move people to assist with medical costs or help hold the polyclinic accountable.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), about 500,000 women and girls worldwide live with fistula.

In Ghana alone, 1,300 new cases are reported each year. Often, it stems from prolonged childbirth, inadequate maternal care, and lack of skilled midwifery or surgical care.

Medical experts interviewed by The Fourth Estate said the Ashaiman Polyclinic should have detected possible complications during routine antenatal checks, especially if the baby’s weight was a concern.

“It is through antenatal clinic visits that we regularly monitor the weight of the baby,” Dr. Raymond Papenfuss Owusu-Ansah, medical doctor and lawyer, explains.

If a baby is large (often four kilograms or more) a CS is typically recommended, with proper counselling about risks.

Dr. Owusu-Ansah emphasizes that the hospital’s duty of care does not end at delivery. The 40-day postpartum period is critical in identifying complications and if problems arise, they must be promptly investigated and corrected.

“For someone in such a situation without the money to treat it, the most favourable route is for the institution involved to cover the cost,” according to Dr Owusu-Ansah.

Yet Ruth, lacking finances, remains untreated. Dr. Owusu-Ansah acknowledges that while legal redress might be an option, it wouldn’t solve the immediate problem: “Humanity must come into play,” he says, urging a more compassionate approach rather than a protracted court battle.

The Head of the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Dr. Frederickson Pobee, indicates that fistula can sometimes occur despite precautions. But there’s a clear path when they do: “When they report, the Medical and Dental Council sets up an investigative committee to go into it. They visit the facility, take records, and if someone was negligent, sanctions follow.”

In Ruth’s case, however, those steps appear not to have been taken. She claims the polyclinic brushed her off with referrals. She expected an in-depth review of what went wrong during delivery, insisting that even though she dutifully attended antenatal appointments, no red flags about the baby’s size were raised until it was too late.

Calls and letters to the Ashaiman Polyclinic for comment yielded no responses. The Fourth Estate first reached out on May 6, 2024, but was directed to the Ashaiman District Health Directorate, then to the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate, and eventually to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Repeated follow-ups over months did not yield authorization to interview the polyclinic directly.

Meanwhile, Ruth’s life remains in limbo. She stands at church to avoid embarrassment, hides from curious stares, and wraps herself in layers of cloth, hoping to mask the constant flow of urine. Even selling beef, a job that once kept food on her family’s table, feels like a burden. Earnings from her meager sales are drained by medical bills and diapers, and her baby’s needs compete with her own daily struggles.

The emotional toll is palpable. Her husband, once confident in providing for his family, is burdened with guilt and helplessness, watching his wife’s health deteriorate. The closeness they shared is replaced by frustration and worry. Still, they cling to the hope that, somehow, someone will intervene: either the hospital or compassionate donors who might ease the financial strain.

A cry for help

For Ruth, the greatest desire is to be whole again.

“Please help me because my situation is terrible and disgraceful,” she pleads. “Please help me get out of this situation.”

While the Ashaiman Polyclinic remains silent, medical professionals say her case underscores the urgent need for better oversight, thorough postpartum monitoring, and accessible corrective surgery for women who suffer injuries during childbirth.

Until these interventions materialize, Ruth’s future (and that of her young family) hangs in the balance, with every new day bringing the same old heartbreak of incontinence, shame, and desperation.

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Peller asked Teni about her having kids because of menopause and she schooled him. pic.twitter.com/12kp8dJoHu

— OLAMIDE 🌸💖 (@Olamide0fficial) March 13, 2025

In an interview on Adom TV, she said it was a life-threatening situation after being in  labour for three days.

Ohemaa Mercy went into labour on a Tuesday, and by Friday, her child had still not arrived, despite medical interventions.

She recounted how the complicated labour posed significant risks to both her and her baby and the medical team decided to perform an emergency caesarean section.

The surgery, though successful, was followed by a further complication. Just a week later, her surgical stitches removed, causing her wound to open.

Due to this complication, Ohemaa Mercy said she was rushed to the theatre for another surgery to save her life.

Whiles the doctors were battling to save her life, the gospel musician said she was thinking about the medical bills.

This, she stated put her through physical and emotional stress.

However, in what Ohemaa Mercy describes as a miraculous intervention, her mother’s friend, a nurse, stepped in with alternative treatment and also provided essential support during this critical period.

For six months, Ohemaa Mercy said she had to walk with caution, bending to prevent further strain on her wound.

Ohemaa Mercy said the challenging recovery process not only tested her strength but also her faith.

She indicated that, being alive today is a testament of the goodness of God.

Unfortunately for one woman on Reddit, her partner was far from supportive, making unfounded accusations that left her hurt and dejected. Now, she is questioning how involved she wants him to be in their baby’s life.

He accused her of cheating on him and kicked her out while she was pregnant.

In her since-deleted Reddit post, the 34-year-old woman explained that her husband’s job requires him to travel for months at a time. While he was away on a business trip, she found out that she was pregnant.

“I thought he would be very happy,” she wrote. “We were trying for a baby and he always wanted to be a father.”

However, he didn’t react to her news at all, and when he finally returned home, she was confused to learn that he was furious with her instead of excited.

While her husband had been on his trip, one of her old high school friends who works as a photographer came into town and wanted to spend the day with her.

“I was very happy to see him. I drove him around the whole day. I had hugged him before he was going back,” she recalled. “Someone had snapped a picture of that and sent it to my husband. Later, I found out it was his aunt, [a] single and bitter woman [who] puts her nose in everything.”

Because of the picture, her husband assumed she was cheating and was unwilling to listen to her explanation.

He argued that he didn’t believe the baby was his and kicked his pregnant wife out with nowhere to go.

“I was a crying mess by then,” she wrote. “I requested him to let me stay the night [since] it was going to be dark soon,” to which he refused.

Her husband was adamant that while he was away on a business trip, she got pregnant by someone else. “He said he’s sure the baby isn’t his” and insisted that he didn’t want to see her right now and would be getting things in order to file for a divorce.

Then he — literally — pushed her out of their home. “I seriously thought I was going to fall and get hurt,” she added.

Unfortunately, her parents were out of town and she didn’t have any trusted friends to stay with. She also had no money on her. The worst part was that her husband knew all of this and still decided to kick her out while she was pregnant and defenseless.

She ended up calling her brother, who drove four hours straight to get her. In the meantime, she sat on the porch steps of their house, cold and alone, while her husband ignored her.

“After that, [my] husband went totally [no contact] with me and my family members,” she wrote. “He didn’t ask about me throughout the whole pregnancy, but he did make posts about his wife cheating on him on [Facebook] and posted pictures with random girls.”

“He never answered my texts or calls. He wasn’t there at the birth of my boy. He didn’t even come after 3 days,” she continued.

Her husband refused to interact until a paternity test revealed he was the baby’s father.

Lo and behold, the paternity test proved the baby was his — just like she said throughout the entire pregnancy.

Embarrassed and remorseful, her husband attempted to finally make amends, but it was far too late.

“He told me he made a mistake, he really loves me, he will make it up to me,” she wrote. “I told him I’m not buying it.”

The woman stood her ground and informed her husband that she didn’t want him around the baby at all because of the way he treated her — a reasonable reaction considering his refusal to listen to her and his cruelty in kicking her out, knowing she was pregnant and didn’t have anywhere else to go.

It was his knee-jerk reaction that landed him in this predicament, and instead of trusting his wife, his pride got in the way, ruining both his marriage and the beginning relationship with his son.

Contrary to speculation suggesting he is sterile, Burna Boy firmly dismissed such rumors, revealing he is medically fit to produce children.

He reiterated that it is his personal choice to delay fatherhood because he believes he is not yet prepared to assume the responsibilities of parenthood.

In a live interaction with his fans, the multi-award-winning artist explained that his decision stems from his desire to be fully prepared to provide them with the love and attention they deserve.

“I don’t wanna have kids yet. Have you seen my operation bro? Have you seen my mum the way she loves me? Have you seen my dad the way he loves me? I know I can’t give that to no one right now with the life I live”.

Until he feels settled and capable of dedicating himself fully to his children on a daily basis, he is choosing not to become a father.

“You feel me so.. when I am settled and I feel I can be there for my children every single day and every minute I’m not having no kids. I feel like my kids deserve better than I got”.

He further shunned all the rumours of being sterile, explaining that should that be the case, he will employ other medical options such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to fulfill his desire to have children.

Burna Boy admonished fans to cut him some slack on the topic of childbirth.

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Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70,000 deaths every year. For those who survive, it can cause disabilities and psychological trauma that last for years.

“Severe bleeding in childbirth is one of the most common causes of maternal mortality, yet it is highly preventable and treatable,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“This new roadmap charts a path forward to a world in which more women have a safe birth and a healthy future with their families.”

The roadmap aims to help countries address stark differences in survival outcomes from PPH, which reflect major inequities in access to essential health services. Over 85% of deaths from PPH happen in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Risk factors include anaemia, placental abnormalities, and other complications in pregnancy such as infections and pre-eclampsia.

Many risk factors can be managed if there is quality antenatal care, including access to ultrasound, alongside effective monitoring in the hours after birth. If bleeding starts, it also needs to be detected and treated extremely quickly.

Too often, however, health facilities lack necessary healthcare workers or resources, including lifesaving commodities such as oxytocin, tranexamic acid or blood for transfusions.

“Addressing postpartum haemorrhage needs a multipronged approach focusing on both prevention and response – preventing risk factors and providing immediate access to treatments when needed – alongside broader efforts to strengthen women’s rights,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HRP, the UN’s special programme on research development and training in human reproduction.

“Every woman, no matter where she lives, should have access to timely, high quality maternity care, with trained health workers, essential equipment and shelves stocked with appropriate and effective commodities – this is crucial for treating postpartum bleeding and reducing maternal deaths.”

A woman is estimated to die every two minutes from causes relating to pregnancy or childbirth. There has been limited progress in reducing these deaths since 2015 and the world is off-track for meeting related Sustainable Development Goal targets.

The roadmap to combat postpartum haemorrhage between 2023 and 2030 outlines goals and activities for research, normative work, implementation and advocacy.

Priority actions include: the development of new and broader guidance for PPH covering prevention, detection and treatment; research to deliver innovations and to increase access to proven interventions; the establishment of a new procurement mechanism to improve the supply of high-quality medicines and commodities; advocacy and awareness-building, and, at the country level, training and facility-based improvements.

About the Roadmap

The roadmap was developed through extensive consultations involving more than 130 experts across diverse fields, while implementation will be guided by an interdisciplinary steering committee.

WHO and partners will provide specialized technical support to countries to adapt global guidelines into national policies, starting where there is the highest burden of maternal deaths.

WHO acknowledges the contributions and commitments of several partners, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Financing Facility, MSD for Mothers, Unitaid, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), Jhpiego, Laerdal Foundation, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

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The singer expressed that her eyesight, which used to be crystal clear, has seen a noticeable downgrade since she became a mother three years ago.

According to her, it started with blurry vision which she was not really alarmed over because she was optimistic it would pass.

In the video she made shedding light on the lesser-known aspect of postpartum experience, she said her eyesight has worsened to the point that she has started experiencing double vision.

In the last three months, Simi said she has frequented hospitals and has undergone series of eye scans and examinations.

Based on the results, her doctors have advised she resorts to using eyeglasses while they find a more lasting solution.

While the singer admitted to feeling slightly disappointed by the necessity of glasses, she recognized that they would significantly improve her vision and quality of life.

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As an only child, Ahuofe Patri told Graphic Showbiz that her mum longed to see her child but unfortunately, that never happened when death snatched her at a time, they least expected.

“Maybe, I should have also given birth early just like my mum did considering that I was the only child and now she is gone. If I knew she was not going to live for long, I would have done that,” she said.          

Saturday, March 4, is a day actress, Ahuofe Patri would love to blot out from her mind if she had the willpower to do so after watching the casket of her mother buried into the ground.

It’s been a month now but the episode is still fresh in her mind such that she cannot live a day without sweet memories of her mother.

In a chat with Graphic Showbiz, she mentioned that her mother’s death was a huge loss and she misses her every day.

As an only child, Ahuofe Patri, Priscilla Opoku Agyeman shared a great bond with her mother and greatly relishes such moments now.

“My mum gave birth to me at an early so it was quite difficult for people to know she was my mother. I related to my mother like a big sis and we did everything together.  I shared with her my problems and she also told me everything I needed to know.

“We shared a strong bond and the love that existed between us was so deep.

“I am never going to find another mother who cared so much for me because she was everything to me,” she stated.

Ahoufe Patricia also thanked her friends who showed up for her mother’s final funeral rites on March 4 at Tesano Police Deport- Accra. “I know my mum Susana Opoku is resting well because she was a good woman with a pure heart,” she stated.

 Away from that, Patricia says it is her dream to become a producer and allow wannabe actors to showcase their talents.  

However, she explained that it is not easy getting to the top without the right connections and she is willing to support new talents when she finally owns a production company.

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I’ll have a child with Kalybos in 2 years if … – Ahuofe Patri

The Emmy Award winner, 29, announced the birth of their first child, a baby boy they named Leodis “Leo” Andrellton on Monday.

The mom of 48 hours excitedly shared some of their first family photos together on Instagram after welcoming their newborn son.

“Hey Son!!!!” Palmer wrote, adding: “Born during Black History Month, with a name to match! LEODIS ANDRELLTON JACKSON, welcome to the world baby Leo.”

In the first slide, she shared a snap of what the couple looks like after “only 48hrs of being parents!” In the next slide, she shared a video of herself singing “Someone” by El Debarge to Jackson in the car after he included the track in some playlists for her when they started dating.

“We became each other’s someone and made a someone, look at God!” Palmer wrote.

Palmer also shared some photos of their family of three in the hospital after welcoming baby Leo, including close-ups of their little one’s face.

“‘I’m not hiding the world from my son, I’m hiding my son from the world.’ Hahaha,” she wrote, adding, “I’m just playing, my baby face is on this slide … And this slide.”

The Nope star first revealed her pregnancy in December as she made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live, announcing that she’s expecting her first baby with Jackson, a fitness instructor and former college football player.

“There’s some rumors going around, people have been in my comments saying, ‘Keke’s having a baby, Keke’s pregnant,’ and I wanna set the record straight — I am!” Palmer exclaimed during her opening monologue, unbuttoning her long jacket to reveal her baby bump.

The Hustlers actress has mainly kept details of her relationship with Jackson under wraps. When appearing on The Tamron Hall Show last November, she opened up about becoming “Instagram official” with Jackson, though the photos with her boyfriend are no longer on her page.

“It became more difficult to hide,” she said of choosing to post photos with Jackson at the time. “We spend all this time together, and he really is my closest friend, so it just becomes a thing where I’m not gonna hide something that makes me happy.”

This, according to her, is a consensual agreement between them, stating they are considering 2024 to actualise that.

She has, however, indicated that would only happen if none of them is married within the two years period.

“We have come to an agreement that, after two years, if I don’t have a lover and he also does not have one, we will have a child. So watch out, if you don’t hear that either Kalybos or myself is married, we will have a baby coming out,” she disclosed in an interview on Accra-based Onua FM.

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Ahuofe Patri sets records straight on relationship with Kwabena Kwabena

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Ahuofe Patri added they are in each other’s plans and will therefore probably start paying attention to each other.

Ahuofe Patri and her longtime screen boyfriend Kalybos have over the years been rained with compliments of being perfect for each other.

A health union official said a gynaecologist, an anaesthetist and a nurse were being questioned over potential negligence.

Senegalese media say the heavily pregnant woman died after losing a lot of blood.

Her baby died as a result of injuries sustained during the operation.

The Senegalese Association of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (ASGO) defended the medical team and criticised the arrests as “wrongful”.

In a statement quoted by the AFP news agency, it said the team had taken “the appropriate decision” for the woman and her baby.

Last year President Macky Sall described Senegal’s health system as obsolete and ordered a national review of neonatal services.

It followed a national outcry over the death of a woman in labour – in a case in which three Senegalese midwives who were involved were found guilty of not assisting someone in danger.

In one brief clip, Rihanna can be seen walking out into a crowd in London at the Wireless Festival dressed in black, while Rocky gave a vibrant performance, according to Metro.

It was the first day of the festival, taking place this year at Crystal Palace Park in London.

At the event, she wore a black Prada puffer jacket garnished with feather details, Elle reported. Rihanna wore her long, black hair down and coupled the look with black leggings and a silver necklace. 

The two were also captured at a barbershop ahead of Rocky’s set. Rihanna wore black sunglasses and looked on as Rocky got a trim. Fans gathered outside and in the shop to get a peek of the superstar couple, according to social media posts on Instagram.

Rihanna and Rocky announced the pregnancy in January, revealing the news through a photo shoot that highlighted her baby bump.

Speaking with Vogue in May for its cover story, Rihanna said she and Rocky didn’t necessarily plan to have a baby but were “certainly not planning against it.”

“I don’t know when I ovulate or any of that type of shit. We just had fun,” she said. “And then it was just there on the test. I didn’t waste any time. I called him inside and showed him. Then I was in the doctor’s office the next morning and our journey began.”

And in May, the 34-year-old Fenty Beauty founder gave birth to a baby boy in Los Angeles, according to multiple outlets.

The couple has been dating for about two years. 

Since giving birth, Rihanna has been resting in Los Angeles, People reported.

“Rihanna is doing well. They are very excited to be parents. Rihanna is already a wonderful mom,” a source said, according to the outlet.

According to her, she vowed not to return to the studio to record a song until she gives birth.

Diana Hamilton revealed this in an interview on Kumasi-based Sompa FM.

“I told God that, I’m not going back to the studio to sing to praise him. I told God that because I wanted him to know that I’m serious about what I said” she stressed.

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The next time she went to the studio to record her thanksgiving song, the singer said she was pregnant.

Diana Hamilton added that, she gave birth to twins and it came as a shock to many because they declared her barren.

According to Zimmorningpost, 39-year-old Patience Mubaiwa went into labor this afternoon whilst in the waiting hall of Harare Magistrates Court.

Mubaiwa started experiencing labour pains as she waited for her brother, whom she had accompanied to stand trial.

Luckily, a brave 27-year-old came to her aid and helped her deliver her baby on the floor inside Harare Magistrates Court.

The assistant has no nursing background but she still managed to help.

The newborn was wrapped in paper and a small blanket.

After giving birth, she was later assisted by medics.

This is not the first time a woman has had to give birth in an unlikely place. Last year, a  27-year old woman from Chad went into labour while aboard an EgyptAir plane and was forced to give birth mid-way the flight.

The EgyptAir flight was travelling from N’Djamena, the capital city of Chad, to Cairo when the pregnant Chadian passenger Kultumah Mohammed started experiencing pain.

The pilot was notified when Mohammed went into labour and the flight was quickly diverted. The hope was that the aircraft would land soon enough for Mohammed to receive proper medical attention during her delivery.

The woman received help from another passenger identified as Laila Mohamed Abou Bakr, a medical student at the Faculty of Medicine at Kasr el-Ainy University in Cairo.

The chief pilot’s instructions, together with the cabin crew’s help, ensured that all passengers’ safety procedures were followed and moved quickly to assist in delivery.

Mohammed reportedly gave birth while the plane was flying over Sudan. The Cabin Crew and the medical student helped her deliver her baby safely.

The 42-year-old singer introduced Sire Castrello Raymond to the world on Tuesday with an adorable Instagram post featuring a look at the newborn’s mouth.

“Hi my name is Sire Castrello Raymond … I am the newest addition to the Raymond crew,” the caption read. “I was born September 29, 2021, at 6:42 pm weighting 7lbs 13oz. Hear me roar … A.K.A Ra Ra .?? ♎️ [Libra] Gang” (sic).

Friends and fans were quick to celebrate the announcement as actor Tyrese wrote: “Angels are always welcome here…”

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A post shared by Usher (@usher)

September 2020 saw the U Remind Me hitmaker and Jenn introduced daughter Sovereign Bo Raymond to the world.

In a sweet Instagram snap showing them holding the tot’s hand, Usher wrote: “We are feeling blessed and full of love with the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Sovereign Bo Raymond.”

He added: ‘” Isn’t She Lovely? By Stevie Wonder on repeat.”

Sire now joins his big brothers Usher V (aka Cinco), 12, and Naviyd Ely, 11, from his previous marriage to Tameka Foster.

Usher and record executive Jenn were first linked in 2019 when they were spotted at the Hollywood Bowl together in October.

The Confessions singer – full name Usher Raymond – was married to stylist Tameka for two years before they split in 2009.

The actress, who previously stated she almost died during childbirth, has opened up on fresh details of how she and her baby were saved after Rev. Bempah appeared in her dreams.

Though not a Christian but a religious person, she disclosed that she tested God to reveal himself to her through testimony, the only proof she said she needed to join Christianity.

She received a sign of the presence of God through her pregnancy after a revelation was made to her that she would not live long enough to welcome her third baby.

The revelation was made by Rev. Bempah when he visited her in her dreams and ordered her to come to look for him in the physical realm.

Narrating what Rev. Bempah did to her in her dreams in an interview with Franky 5 during the This Is Gospel show, the mother-of-three said:

“I had a dream and I saw Rev. Owusu Bempah asking me to come to look for him. I remember he took off my wristwatch, took off his, and put his watch on my hand.

“The first time he appeared in my dream was on Thursday but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He appeared again on Saturday and this time I heard him saying I should come to look for him and I told him I haven’t taken my shower and he said it doesn’t matter, come and look for me.”

As scared as she was, she said she visited Rev. Bempah’s church with the aim of having a tete-a-tete with him, but he was not reachable.

She said her faith made her take a seat at the back row during the Sunday church service, and that was where she had her deliverance.

“I went to his church. After he was done preaching, he was just walking through the crowd. He looked at me, went back, looked at me again, went back; the third time, he looked at me and asked what dream I’ve had about him.

“He called me, I told him the dream and he said God loves me but I’m very stubborn. He told me my time is up; it is not a plot of anyone, but just my destiny to die young.

“The man has piercing eyes so I couldn’t look at him directly, I kept looking away. He ordered me to look straight into his eyes. He prayed fervently for me after he said God has permitted him to deliver me.”

Despite experiencing some situations that seemed as though she will come face to face with death, she sailed through, with the help of her mother and doctors.

“I couldn’t walk for three days, I was in town when it happened. They had to carry me like a bag of rice. All the doctor could tell me was the child had moved but I had spoken to Rev. Owusu Bempah and he had said nothing would happen to me. I actually gave birth with my mother lying on top of me,” she said.

Nearly 10,000 parents replied on handwritten postcards — some of them saying things along the lines of, “I wish I never had kids.”

A few weeks later, Landers shared the survey results in an article headlined “70 Percent Of Parents Say Kids Not Worth It.”

I happened to come across an old clipping of this headline 23 years later. I was the proud mama of two little tots, swollen and counting down to two more, an unexpected batch of twins.

Raised as a devout Mormon, I believed it was my divine destiny to birth babies. This was what I was born to do. And so, I did it well.

The belief that I was doing right by God made my early years of parenting incredibly profound. I relished every moment.

When that Ann Landers article appeared in my life, I was a hopeful 24-year-old in the honeymoon stages of marriage and motherhood.

I wrote my own reply to the Landers poll, blasting her and her readers for selfishness. I reminded her of the perfection of holding a sleeping baby, their breath sweet with milk, the fullness of your existence wrapped up in this little one’s personal happiness.

I wept as I wrote that article and ranted against anyone who denied the wonder of motherhood.

Some 12 years later, after a particularly exhausting day as a newly single mum and sole wage earner of four teenagers, I typed into Google: “I wish I’d never had kids.”

I wasn’t as much admitting to ether that I regretted my life or that I was, indeed, regretting having kids. No. I was asking Google to help me find other mothers who felt the same way.

Hoping against hope that some other mothers woke up in her mid-30s, realised her reality, and shared those shameful feelings: I wish I’d never had children.

Google has long been my crystal ball. I’ve consulted it before in times of distress

“Do I have melanoma?”

“Do I have Alzheimer’s?”

“Should I divorce my husband?”

The panic of a moment gets poured into an attentive search engine box, sent out over the airwaves to seek connection.

Someone, anyone who understands and can tell me I’m not alone, I don’t have stage-4 terminal cancer, I probably should divorce my husband, and yes, some women regret their choice to have children, but very few are talking about it.

A huge part of me understands that mid-life moments of regret over children is a reflection of my own mess.

As a recovering religionist, I started life in one world: the world where the mother stays at home has many small children, does not seek a career, and relies on her partner to provide.

After my divorce, I made a sudden U-turn into another: the world where the woman works, provides, parents, partners, and stands up to all the same expectations as anyone else — even if she wasn’t prepared for it, educated for it, or ready for it with nest egg in the bank.

Today, I’m a single mum of four in Utah and I’m surrounded by hundreds of other women walking in the same shoes. Women who thought they were doing right by their woefully outdated religion, who married too young and had too many children (one of my friends has nine kids!), and now face a harsh future with little education.

It’s a tough gig, motherhood, and I recognise my post-divorce reality affects my day-to-day level of happiness and certainly makes parenting even more overwhelming than it already is.

I must say: I’ve been lucky. With my own thriving business and a work-from-home career, I’m somehow making it work.

Even still, “making it work” wasn’t what I expected motherhood to be.

I thought I’d be better. I thought I’d be a party-throwing mum. I thought I’d be pretty and kind and Pinterest-y.

I thought I’d find myself and fulfillment in my marriage and kids, as so many people had promised.

Instead, here I am in the smack-dab middle of motherhood and I feel lost.

I feel time-sucked and thread worn. I feel like I’m responsible for carrying the world. And on so many days, I long for the simplicity of focusing on just one thing: me.

That sentence sounds selfish, but I’m guessing there are a million mums who understand.

Here in the middle of motherhood, I’ve spent 15 years living for (and with) my children, and I realize motherhood was as much about welcoming them into my life as it was about sacrificing myself, my time, my autonomy.

Because my babies will always be here. And I will always be theirs.

There is no break. There is no quitting. There is no vacation. There is constant guilt. That reality is sobering and exhausting.

It’s a reality more of us mums need to share with non-mums.

Because understanding the reality is the only way to help non-mums answer the question they’ve been Googling: “Will I regret not having kids?”

In my most aware moments, I realize I’m not necessarily struggling against motherhood.

I’m struggling against all motherhood has become. It is a veritable meritocracy, working most “ideally” for those lucky enough to have money, time, family support, and a devoted partner.

Even then, it’s my observation that very, very few couples survive the shift into parenthood over the long term.

It changes who you are as a woman.

You are less a partner and more a caregiver. Your family life becomes your real life. Child care becomes your full-time job, minus the paychecks.

There is a constant balancing act that will have to be done for the rest of your life. And that balancing act is hard. It tears at your soul. It wears you out.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids. I don’t feel resentment toward them; my children increase my happiness and are my life satisfaction.

Today, women are held responsible for an impossible balance between work and family and self. I think it’s vital mothers talk about reality as it is or as it can become. Even when you’ve begun with the best-laid plans.

Over a Sunday plate of waffles several weeks ago, I was boo-hooing to my boyfriend (who never had children of his own) about my busy life. How I feel pulled in so many directions, incapable of focusing on any one thing and totally exhausted.

He looked at me for a moment, then said gently:

“Your life is so full of purpose, you feel lost in it. My life has been so full of me, I’ve spent years trying to seam together some semblance of purpose: planning trips and activities, creating excursions with friends. But in the end, it’s forgettable.

I have this space to share, and when I share it with you and the kids, the moments build on each other and become a link of memories, with people that would miss me if I was gone

His response reminded me of this quote from Milan Kundera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”:

“The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground… The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half-real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?”

It occurs to me that I am not mourning my children as much as I’m mourning my loss of choice.

I no longer get to mull over such existentialisms, sipping coffee and philosophizing for hours. I no longer get to choose between weight or lightness. I chose children and so I chose weight.

My freedom lost to some degree on the days I birthed four round, pink cherubs — four brilliant humans who have become my dearest partners in crime. My burden, my reality, my truth.

A few months after the Ann Landers’ column was published, a Roper Poll asked the same question through a telephone survey: “If you had to do it over again, would you have kids?”

Of the randomly selected parents, almost 90 percent said that kids were definitely worth it. I wonder sometimes, which survey side told the truth?

The respondents who sent in private postcards or the ones who were asked to state their answer aloud? Or do different days just bring about different feelings? I think, probably the answer is: yes, exactly.

Do I regret having kids and wish I’d never had children?

Wishing I could go back only makes me frustrated and stuck feeling and angry and resentful. And so, I embrace Life as it is.

I take all the chaos and wonder and wildness that is my Real Life. I let go of heartache, embrace the heaviness, and enjoy the adventures my children’s lives bring into mine.

Would it have been more fun to find myself on a nine-month escape to a Tibetan Monastery instead? I’ll never know. Because four kids are waiting downstairs for me to take them swimming.

And this is life.

And it’s mine.

And it’s calling me.

– Brooke Lark

The pregnant woman is said to have begged the robbers to allow the motor rider she had hired to send her to the hospital but they declined.

Instead, they asked that she delivers in the middle of the road while they robbed several commuters at gunpoint.

The rider also appealed to the robbers but was slapped and asked to shut up.

Rainbow Radio reports that the robbers pounced on several commuters on the road who were mostly miners and demanded they hand over their money and other valuables or risk being shot.

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The woman was delivered of a boy amidst the tension and was later rushed to a nearby hospital after the robbers completed their mission.

Several commuters had their phones, money and other valuables taken from them by the robbers.

The incident happened at St Balikuddembe Primary School, Jalamba Ward in Buwama Town Council, Mpigi District.

The girl, according to Godfrey Ssemanda, the headteacher of the school,  developed labour pains during a Mathematics examination.

“After 20 minutes, she alerted the invigilator who called colleagues and rushed the girl to a nearby medical centre,” Mr Ssemanda said.

Ms Goreth Mirembe, the nurse at the clinic, said that after helping the girl to deliver, she was taken back to the school to complete her paper in an isolated environment.

Mr Ssemanda said that the invigilator gave the girl extra 45 minutes to write the examination.

“She also wrote the paper and this morning [Wednesday], she’s here to write another paper,” Mr Ssemanda said on Wednesday morning.

The girl’s parents attributed their daughter’s pregnancy to last year’s Covid-19 lockdown.

“She was lured into conjugal acts during this Covid-19 lockdown by a certain boy because they were not going to school,” one of the parents said.

He explained God finally blessed the family with children as she delivered triplets amid mixed feelings.

After announcing the delivery as he gave thanks to God on Twitter, congratulatory messages poured in for the family.

“So after almost nine years of marriage and no child, my aunt just gave birth to triplets, God is amazing, mothers-in-law should do better,” the tweet read.

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However, the joy of the family and well-wishers was short-lived as the mother passed on hours after her delivery.

Suleiman, responding to another congratulatory message, tweeted: “But she died this morning.”

The congratulations have since turned into consolations and encouragements as tweeps urge him to take care of the beautiful angels left behind.

Read the posts below:

My aunty just died, God why????? ???????? https://t.co/HFygQSs2yU

— SARKI_SULIEMAN (@Sir_Dongizle) June 26, 2020

I love to read such stories. God is Great. Glory to his name.

— Kuyet Joshua (@kuyetj) June 26, 2020

God you blessed aunty Altine with triplets just to take her away from us?? ?????? God why??

— SARKI_SULIEMAN (@Sir_Dongizle) June 26, 2020

It’s not God don g, our health care system is killing women ,the number of maternal deaths is staggering,I believe your aunty is a victim of this.. May God grant u all the fortitude to bear such unbearable loss..

— FlotusWendy_? (@wendy_philipz) June 26, 2020

Stretch marks are mostly found in the following area of the body (the belly, buttocks, thighs, hips, and breasts).

When the elastic supportive tissue under the skin is put under pressure, stretch marks occur. These 6 tips will help with your stretch marks.6 tips on how to get rid of stretch marks naturally

It took 9 months of growth, stretches, movements, and all that happened during pregnancy to get here. It will take about the same time or more for your body to adjust.

Time is a major factor in regaining your body after childbirth. With time, stretch marks begin to fade. They may not disappear completely, but they fade off and there are tips to help this process.

1. Shea Butter

Raw Shea butter can diminish the appearance and help to prevent the development of stretch marks.

2. Cocoa Butter

Cocoa Butter replenishes and repairs damaged cells. It helps penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin, to replenish and repair already damaged cells. Cocoa butter will not clear stretch marks but it will sure make them look and feel better.

3. Aloe Vera

It is known for its ability to heal wounds. Aloe Vera is also beneficial in treating stretch marks. Applying Aloe Vera gel in its pure form is very effective. Leave on the affected area for one hour. Apply at least 3 times a week to quicken results.Battling stretch marks these 5 natural remedies can help

4. Olive Oil

Olive oil is one of the most popular and recommended oils for moisturizing. Massage the affected area with warm olive oil. Warm up the olive oil and then apply on the stretch marks. Massage until the skin absorbs all the antioxidants and vitamins in the oil.

5. Sugar

Exfoliate with sugar. Exfoliation is aimed at removing dead and dry skin to reveal the fresh and youthful skin beneath.

Sharing her ordeal on a show hosted by Nana Ama Mcbrown, the actress narrated how she almost delivered her baby in a car en route to the hospital.

Describing Ryn’s birth as the most painful experience ever, Yvonne recounted how her heart sank in fear when her daughter’s head popped out in her palm while they were still in the car.

“I was feeling pains coupled with high blood pressure; when my water broke I did not know I was ready for birth because I experienced pains throughout my pregnancy.

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“We were heading to Lister Hospital on that fateful Sunday but there was traffic [jam] at the Spintex underbridge; we were honking but there was no way because everywhere was choked,” she narrated.

Yvonne was still in fear after her daughter fully popped out in less than a minute after arriving at the hospital because she could not hear her breath.

In the early hours of Sunday, October 29, 2017, Yvonne Nelson and boyfriend, Jamie Roberts welcomed their baby girl.