Zika Virus Outbreak: How the Rich and the Poor Pregnant Brazilians Cope With the Illness; Read Their Stories Here!

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The Zika virus outbreak in Brazil shows the disparities on how pregnant women from rich and poor families deal with the disease.

The Zika virus has brought the same amount of fear to every mom in Brazil. However, a woman from a rich family and a poor one have different options in the same predicament.

Jenny Barchfield and Mauricio Savarese shared the stories of two Brazilian women who have the same fears against Zika virus but have a different set of choices due to their financial status, The Star reported.

Regina de Lima and Tainara Lourenco are pregnant. Both were afraid that their unborn child might suffer from microcephaly -- a condition where infants are born with smaller-than-averaged head conference. To know more about this condition, check it here.

Lima is rich but Lourenco is not. The former has the money to finance her needs while the other struggles to live.

According to Lima, she and her husband were very happy upon learning that they would be having a child. However, the joy was short lived because of the dreaded virus. The couple had been trying to start a family and decided to put the project on hold in late November when the Brazilian government announced a possible association with the mosquito-borne Zika virus and microcephaly.

However, it was too late for Lima because she was already pregnant. The audiovisual producer from Rio de Janeiro is in her first trimester. At this stage, the fetus is most susceptible to Zika.

Lima confessed that the first weeks after she found out that she was pregnant was terrifying. She cried and cried. She feared that she's inflicted with the disease and that it might affect her baby.

So, Lima requested for an extended vacation and left for Europe. She will be staying there until the end of her first trimester.

Meanwhile, Lourenco is unemployed and is five months pregnant. She hunts for crustaceans in the nearby swamp and sells it for $2.50 per kilogram to sustain her daily needs with her 2-year-old daughter.

"I think I got Zika or some other disease not long ago," she said. "What can we do? Just hope that it doesn't affect the baby."

The only possible precautionary measure that Lourenco could afford is to wear long-sleeve clothing, which is a struggle given that the country is very hot. She added that she can't afford mosquito repellent.

Instead of being paranoid with her fears, Lourenco learned to live with it because she can't do anything about it. "If you have to get sick you will get sick," she said. "It's everywhere."