Imagine I was showing people I had an STD – Millie Odhiambo on health challenges

Tony Mukere

September 19, 2019 11:23 AM

"It was a terrible journey"

Imagine I was showing people I had an STD – Millie Odhiambo on health challenges

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo on Wednesday night narrated her reproductive health challenges that affected her life when she was a young girl.

Odhiambo said that as a young girl, she had difficult menstrual periods that would often see her admitted in hospital due to severe cramps and heavy blood loss.

“When I was younger, I had difficult menses and I would be admitted in hospital every month. I would have severe cramps, I would have blood loss. It was a terrible journey.”

“I once walked into a meeting and before I knew it, I was in a pool of blood. Luckily, there was a guy in the office who happened to be a gynecologist,” Odhiambo.

She added that in all these visits, the doctors told her that she had aborted until she was correctly diagnosed with fibroids while studying in New York.

“Maybe technology was not good enough, I would be told that I had aborted in each of my monthly admissions.”

The legislator added that at some point, the doctors gave her a note to submit to her employer which, unknown to her, indicated she was suffering from a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD).

"At one time I visited a hospital and I asked for a note because I had missed work. I was working around with this documentation from office to office because I knew I had had this problem all my life.

"What did the doctor write? That I had an STD even though I was not sexually active. It was not until someone called aside and told me my note indicated I had an STD. Imagine I had been working around showing people I had an STD! I went back to the hospital and the doctors said she had presumed I had it because its common among women,” Odhiambo stated.

The Suba North MP she was thankful for the hard experience as it prepared her to be a champion of women who undergo such challenges. She is currently preparing a bill that will allow and regulate assisted pregnancy technologies such as surrogacy.

Tony Mukere