Posted by By JOSSY IDAM on
In apparent response to the claim by aging spinsters littering Nigerian cities, a medical practitioner, Dr. Obike Jonathan of Healthfirst Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, blames it partly on the women. He told Sunday Sun that most women squander their early years either in pursuit of career or fun.
In apparent response to the claim by aging spinsters littering Nigerian cities, a medical practitioner, Dr. Obike Jonathan of Healthfirst Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, blames it partly on the women. He told Sunday Sun that most women squander their early years either in pursuit of career or fun.
Eating one's cake
Dr Obike compares the big girls' predicament to eating ones cake and not having it back. 'Life is simple and clear. When these girls were young, they refused to marry or listen to any proposal by serious suitors. They went pursing their careers or plainly having good times. Now they are over the hill. Not young and pretty like before, their former admirers have moved on. So, they can't eat their cake and have it," he said.
Medical problems
Not marrying early, according to the doctor, has a lot of medical implications for women. 'Once a woman is up to 30 and above, conception becomes a problem. When plotted on a graph, the chances of conception when a woman is aging dips," he said.
Elaborating further, the doctor revealed that even when an old spinster conceives, 'she needs a lot of prayers to successfully go through the gestation period. Some don't even make it through the first trimester. At that age, some even suffer high blood pressure. The likelihood of aborting, having a premature baby or malformed baby is very high."
Stress and anxiety
Having stayed for long ‘on the shelf' without a husband keeps the women on edge. And when at long last a husband comes along, Dr Obike told Sunday Sun that 'the old girl gets stressed and worked-up with anxiety because they want to secure the marriage with a child fast. That's not the end of the Wahala. For a woman, the pressure also mounts from her mother-in-law and her husband's female siblings and relations. And when there's heightened anxiety conception is almost impossible."
Nervous breakdown
Cautioning, the doctor says an over anxious woman may aggravate her problems with a nervous breakdown. 'From the cases I've handled, I have come across a number of women who allowed themselves to be buffeted like balloons in the air by anxiety. First, they want to reassure themselves that they are still capable of making babies. Next, they want to please their husbands and relations. So, when the exertion gets too much, the end result is usually nervous or mental breakdown," he said.
Men not spared
Delayed marriage, Dr. Obike submitted, also has medical implications for men. 'Men's sexual appetite and staying power decline as they age. When a man is no more young, agile and at his peak, and marries late, he risks being plagued by erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and even prosterate cancer. When old men and women procreate, they may give birth to imbeciles or have unbalanced off-springs," he further revealed.