Radio presenter and comedian Auntie Jemimah reprimanded Kenyans on social media who claimed that baby showers and baby bump photo shoots were to blame for passing of newborns.
Auntie Jemimah was speaking a month after she lost her baby at 34 weeks.
In a video on her YouTube channel, she said that many Kenyans, including some celebrities, were spreading what she described as ignorant and false opinions.
According to the comedian, she was blamed for exposing her baby to evil wishes from people who didn’t mean her well by sharing her baby bump photos on social media.
"Showing off your baby bump is not wishing death upon your child or yourself, alright? I was told that it was because I showed off my baby bump, that it was because I went for that beautiful baby bump shoot that I lost a child. No, I went for a baby bump shoot because I carried my pregnancy beautifully. I was beautiful and I felt beautiful in that period,” she said.
Jemimah added that it would be an insult to mothers to overlook the scientific factors that cause the demise of a newborn.
"You have all ignored that because of the shallowness, because of the ignorance you have, because of the thirst you have for likes and comments, you have decided that we wish that upon ourselves.
"So no, and by the way you are tiring, and some of you are even celebrated women. The reason you're a celebrity is because you are celebrated for something,” the comedian said.
Auntie Jemimah noted that conceiving, carrying a full-term pregnancy, and childbirth are all miracles.
She added that there have been women who have died while giving birth and women who have lost children before birth due to miscarriages or stillbirth.
All these unfortunate incidents can happen to anyone whether or not they held a baby shower or baby bump photoshoot.
The comedian said that maternal fatalities and infant mortality have affected Kenyan women even before the current trends as claimed by some Kenyans on social media.
Kenya’s Maternal Mortality Ratio is 362 maternal fatalities per 100,000 live births.
According to World Bank data, the infant mortality rate in the country was 31 fatalities per thousand live births as of 2019.