While the healthcare systems around the world are overwhelmed by treating COVID-19 patients, pregnant women and newborns are lacking adequate support, risking increased neonatal mortality, the regional director for Europe and Central Asia at UN children agency UNICEF, Afshan Khan, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) While the healthcare systems around the world are overwhelmed by treating COVID-19 patients, pregnant women and newborns are lacking adequate support, risking increased neonatal mortality, the regional director for Europe and Central Asia at UN children agency UNICEF, Afshan Khan, told Sputnik.
"What we are seeing and sometimes don't understand is the diversion of so many of the health resources to respond to pandemic. ... We are expecting a health impact on countries everywhere... The risks, as COVID-19 containment measures are in place, put millions of pregnant women and babies at greater risk, if they don't have access to the right kind of natal check-ups, delivery care, post-natal care services," Khan said.
The director noted that there were risks of seeing an increase in infant mortality in the regions with an already weak healthcare infrastructure.
"There are risks of newborns' deaths. We expect that the highest numbers of births in ten months are going to be in India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia. Most of these countries had high neonatal mortality rates before the pandemic and they may see these increased with COVID-19 restrictions," Khan argued.
She went on to say that health care workers need to undergo especially thorough checkups and have the essential protection to be able to fulfill their duties.
"We are really working with governments to ensure that health workers are provided with the necessary PPE, making sure that priority testing and vaccination is available, so that there's quality care for pregnant [women] and newborn babies," the UNICEF regional director said.
According to Khan, it was also important to have access to postpartum consultations and encourage women living in remote rural areas to use maternal waiting homes to avoid contracting the virus.
