When Rwanda announced its first lockdown on March 22, 2020, Axella Kana found out she was pregnant with her first child. She would later have to juggle single motherhood, university studies, a part-time job, and a pandemic.
Kana, 26, gave birth to a baby girl in November 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. She endured hours of labour without any of her family members present, due to the hospital’s Covid-19 protocols. As she gasped for air, nurses reminded her that she was not allowed to remove her surgical mask.
