JOURNALIST and media consultant Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa, who recently lost her new-born twins, says she regrets announcing her prǝgnɑncy on social media.
Last year, Parirenyatwa took to social media platforms saying time was no longer on her side, hence the decision to use a spǝrm donor while waiting to meet her “Mr Right”.
She also revealed that she had fibr0ids. Speaking in an interview with Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube on the platform In Conversation with Trevor, Parirenyatwa said she regretted making her prǝgnɑncy public.
“The first lesson is that not everyone is happy for you. The second lesson is that protect beautiful things because people ruin beautiful things. Just keep quiet,” she noted.
“Yes (I do regret) because I did not serve long-term to have shared it and no because my story opened up for so many women to reach out and to talk about something that is otherwise never talked about. In Shona there is a saying “usafukure hapwa” (loosely translated to mean don’t disclose inner secrets) that is one of those things, miscarriage or losing your child”.
She said she lost the twins after birth.
“Mine I do not call it a miscarriage because I delivered, they were live at birth so we cannot call it a miscarriage. I lost my babies and it’s a completely different experience,” she said.
The media personality said local culture had some taboos which impinged on women’s rights and these need to be discarded.
“I do not know how our culture says we should not talk about losing a child. It also says that you should not grieve or cry when you have lost a baby, something mythical about how it means that you will not c0nceive,” she noted.
“There are so many rules and terms and conditions that our culture has that I need to question our ancestors about.”
Parirenyatwa said women who faced similar challenges should not shy away from telling other people their problem as it helped in healing fast.
“I would tell anybody going through this that there are professionals, friends and family that you can reach out to,” she said.
“There is a shame that women also carry especially if it is your first attempt at trying to become a mother. You then feel like a failure so there is a shame that you carry to say that I could not carry a child to term, my womb is not fit for motherhood.”
— NewsDay
