Pregnancy in the people's army
Ka Aure is seven months pregnant. Ang Bayan interviewed her in Nueva Ecija, inside the guerrilla base of the New People�s Army (NPA) platoon to which she belonged.
It is Ka Aure�s first pregnancy. She is over 30 years old and it�s been more than a year and a half since she and her husband started planning to have children. Thus, the couple was ecstatic upon learning of her pregnancy.
Until recently, Ka Aure belonged to a regular NPA unit in the province and actively carried out her revolutionary duties as a Red fighter.
When her pregnancy was confirmed, her unit immediately made plans to ensure her health and that of her unborn child. At the appropriate time, Ka Aure had a checkup with a midwife ally in a nearby barrio.
In the months that followed, her unit made sure that she had checkups with a midwife or doctor. She religiously took the vitamins prescribed to her, and paid adequate and necessary attention to the kind and quantity of the food she ate. As is the practice of all units of the people�s army, her meal and snack rations were doubled, something that comrades loved to tease her about.
Ka Aure says that she is thoroughly cared for and assisted not only by her comrades in the unit but even by the Party branch and the mass organizations in the barrio. When it comes to her health and welfare, they give her twice the nurture they provide to Red fighters.
As with others who are with child, Ka Aure experienced changes in her disposition and physique. On her third month, her sense of taste changed and it became hard for her to keep down certain foods. She felt physically weak and suffered from a general lassitude, which were all part of being pregnant.
Her unit took certain steps to cope with her condition. She was assigned to work in adjacent barrios to reduce the need for long hikes. The tasks assigned to her were those that did not require her to shift base very often, such as providing political education. Her comrades also told her not to hesitate to let them know what food she liked to eat and that they�d do their best to provide them to her.
She discovered that boiled bananas and sugared water helped greatly during days when her vomiting was intense.
With the help and support of her husband and the unit to which she belonged, Ka Aure easily overcame these difficulties. And even in the hour of her greatest hesitation, she never relinquished her tasks as a cadre and a fighter.
At the time of Ka Aure�s pregnancy, a vigorous mass campaign was also being launched in her unit�s area of responsibility. As revolutionary work advanced in the area, she was also gradually able to cope physically.
Ka Aure is now preparing to give birth. She and her husband who is also a Red fighter, are likewise preparing for a new chapter in their lives as revolutionary parents.
| 
