{"id":43965,"date":"2020-05-13T09:40:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T13:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/?post_type=news-item&p=43965"},"modified":"2023-11-21T12:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T17:35:13","slug":"conversation-article-africa-cant-let-maternity-care-slide-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-includes-lessons-from-the-ebola-outbreak-in-west-africa-that-could-guide-the-ongoing-efforts","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/news-item\/conversation-article-africa-cant-let-maternity-care-slide-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-includes-lessons-from-the-ebola-outbreak-in-west-africa-that-could-guide-the-ongoing-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa can\u2019t let maternity care slide during the coronavirus pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Amid global commitments to defeat, or at least minimise, the pervasive effects of the COVID-19\u00a0pandemic, the impact on the African continent remains unclear. African governments have\u00a0moved quickly\u00a0to mobilise resources and strengthen their emergency preparedness and response capacities.<\/p>\n

But particular attention needs to be paid to the most vulnerable members of the population. There are ongoing discussions on pressing health issues including\u00a0women\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

More than\u00a0two-thirds<\/a>\u00a0of the world\u2019s maternal deaths happen in sub-Saharan Africa. The\u00a0leading cause<\/a>\u00a0of maternal deaths is inadequate access to quality care during pregnancy or delivery or after birth.<\/p>\n

The world has committed to improving maternal health through quality care. But the use of maternal health services in sub-Saharan Africa remains low. More than\u00a0four-fifths<\/a>\u00a0of all maternal deaths are directly linked to poor and inadequate maternity services during pregnancy and childbirth and six weeks after birth.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 and measures put in place to curb its spread may worsen the already poor access to quality maternal health services in parts of the continent. For example, the ongoing transmission mitigation strategies such as\u00a0lockdown\u00a0and\u00a0curfews\u00a0may intensify the dire consequences brought on by the lack of access to quality health services and by pre-existing maternal health problems. And struggling health systems may not have adequate capacity and space to attend to these routine healthcare needs.<\/p>\n

Affected services<\/h2>\n

The use of maternal health services including antenatal care, skilled delivery and postnatal care has a significant impact on the overall health of the mother. But health systems across the continent may not be able to handle the situation in the event of mass infections.<\/p>\n

For instance, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO)\u00a0suggested<\/a>\u00a0that there was a significant reduction in maternal and newborn health care use. This was mainly due to stretched healthcare systems. Evidence of this is the absence of referrals for complicated cases. There was also less adherence to treatment protocols.<\/p>\n

The WHO also warned that this could lead to poor maternal and newborn health unless backed by the provision of context-specific services.<\/p>\n

Evidence from recent\u00a0empirical\u00a0studies\u00a0from\u00a0Guinea,\u00a0Liberia<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sierra Leone<\/a>\u00a0supports this. They showed a significant reduction in the uptake of essential maternal health services during the Ebola outbreak. This had persistent effects after the crisis ended.<\/p>\n

Consequently, the outbreak\u00a0pushed back<\/a>\u00a0the positive strides that had been achieved in maternal health in the region.<\/p>\n

What women need<\/h2>\n

Women in many African countries already have difficulty getting decent\u00a0pre- and postnatal care<\/a>. They face delays in getting appropriate medical help for a pregnancy-related emergency, reaching an appropriate facility and receiving adequate care when a facility is reached.<\/p>\n

This, in turn, diminishes access to respectful, skilled, comprehensive and culturally appropriate maternal healthcare.<\/p>\n

These weaknesses could be worsened by \u201cstaying at home and physical distancing\u201d measures. And COVID-19 disruptions may lead to shortages in the supply chain for maternal life-saving medicines. This may specifically affect emergency pregnancy services, including deliveries that require critical care.<\/p>\n

In addition, pregnancy aggravated or pre-existing conditions including poor access to nutrition may put pregnant mothers at more risk.<\/p>\n

The way forward<\/h2>\n

The African context requires a unique approach to enhance maternal health during the COVID-19 crisis. Special efforts must be made to create awareness about which maternal health services are available \u2013 routinely and during lockdowns and curfews.<\/p>\n

These may include strengthening media coverage to motivate mothers to access services, with all precautionary measures in place. Additional measures also need to be taken. For example, Kenya has\u00a0reviewed<\/a>\u00a0community health volunteers\u2019 work packages so that they are motivated to do home-to-home visits, provide counselling and identify mothers who need special care. This could be enhanced through referrals to the next level health facility. The country has also developed a\u00a0practical guideline<\/a>\u00a0to ensure the continuity of maternal and newborn services.<\/p>\n

Initiatives like this need to be scaled up across the region. Health facilities must also make standby maternity rooms available to ensure that maternity care can be offered in safe conditions.<\/p>\n

And positive lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa could guide the ongoing efforts. For instance, a consortium of international organisations including the WHO, UNICEF and Save the Children made\u00a0recommendations<\/a>\u00a0to key stakeholders on what needed to be done differently to minimise the impact of the outbreak on maternal and newborn health.<\/p>\n

The consortium developed\u00a0guidelines<\/a>\u00a0to identify, train and incentivise frontline health care workers \u2013 such as community health workers \u2013 to provide contexualised maternal and newborn healthcare services during pregnancy and childbirth and after birth.<\/p>\n

The guidelines reiterated that the implementation of these initiatives needed to be backed by appropriate policy, supervision and monitoring and evaluation. Experiences from the implementation of these emergency response plans and mitigation strategies\u00a0showed some positive results<\/a>\u00a0in maternal and newborn health.<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also\u00a0urged<\/a>\u00a0special screening and care for vulnerable pregnant women.<\/p>\n

These lessons should be applied by countries in sub-Saharan Africa managing their way through the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7211,"featured_media":43966,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHealthy Newborn Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/news-item\/conversation-article-africa-cant-let-maternity-care-slide-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-includes-lessons-from-the-ebola-outbreak-in-west-africa-that-could-guide-the-ongoing-efforts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa can\u2019t let maternity care slide during the coronavirus pandemic - Healthy Newborn Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published by The Conversation Amid global commitments to defeat, or at least minimise, the pervasive effects of the COVID-19\u00a0pandemic, the impact on the African continent remains unclear. 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The Every Newborn Action Plan Measurement Improvement Roadmap details the challenges in measurement and provides a multi-year, multi-partner pathway to improving metrics, including testing and standardizing indicator definitions and developing new tools.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\" el_class=\"issue-stats\"][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"text-red\" width=\"1\/3\"][vc_column_text]\r\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"ticker\">71\r\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2\/3\"][vc_column_text css=\".vc_custom_1513274052338{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}\"]\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">percentage of newborn deaths that are preventable with access to quality health care\r\n<\/span><\/h3>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"text-yellow\" width=\"1\/3\"][vc_column_text]\r\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"ticker\">1<\/span>\/<span class=\"ticker\">3<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2\/3\"][vc_column_text css=\".vc_custom_1517246179677{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}\"]\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">babies do not have a birth certificate by their first\u00a0birthday<\/span><\/h3>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner el_class=\"text-blue\" width=\"1\/3\"][vc_column_text]\r\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"ticker\">10<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=\"2\/3\"][vc_column_text css=\".vc_custom_1456360643415{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}\"]\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">number of priority Every Newborn indicators identified<\/span><\/h3>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner content_placement=\"middle\"][vc_column_inner][vc_separator][vc_column_text]\r\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>All data on this page represents the most recent data available, unless otherwise noted. Please visit our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/numbers\/\">Newborn Numbers<\/a>\u00a0page and download the Excel spreadsheet to explore the data further.<\/em><\/h6>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=\"More information\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/numbers\/\">Newborn Numbers<\/a> for more newborn health specific epidemiology including rates, trends, and causes of death.\r\n\r\nEpidemiology is the \u201cstudy of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including disease), and the application of this study to the control of diseases and other health problems.\u201d Epidemiology examines how health conditions are distributed among a population and seeks to understand the risks or causes associated with those conditions.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The numbers of stillbirths and neonatal deaths, and the causes, are generated through modeled estimates using information from national civil registration databases, household surveys, surveillance systems, and special studies. High-quality, universal birth and death registration are required to provide nationally representative, timely data, and to signify a shift in social norms to value counting every newborn baby and stillbirth. Increasing global momentum to improve the data is important, and highlights the human face of those who are counted the least\u2014newborn babies and stillbirths.[\/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=\"Key resources\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text]\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/hnn-content\/uploads\/Every-Newborn-Metrics-Cards_3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Every Newborn Metrics Report Cards<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/supplements\/volume-15-supplement-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Count every newborn, a measurement improvement roadmap for coverage data<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/series\/everynewborn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Lancet Every Newborn Series (2014)<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/resource\/every-newborn-action-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Every Newborn Action Plan<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text]\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/handle\/10665\/184225\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The WHO Technical consultation on newborn health indicators<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/handle\/10665\/153544\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Strategies toward ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM)<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthdatacollaborative.org\/fileadmin\/uploads\/hdc\/Documents\/the-roadmap-for-health-measurement-and-accountability.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Roadmap for Health Measurement and Accountability<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/teams\/maternal-newborn-child-adolescent-health-and-ageing\/epidemiology-monitoring-and-evaluation\/maternal-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WHO Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (Maternal and newborn health monitoring)<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","post_title":"Epidemiology","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"data-epidemiology","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-10-19 17:59:04","post_modified_gmt":"2022-10-19 21:59:04","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/?post_type=issue&p=120","menu_order":0,"post_type":"issue","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":49497,"post_author":"7211","post_date":"2021-08-04 20:35:27","post_date_gmt":"2021-08-05 00:35:27","post_content":"[vc_row full_width=\"stretch_row\" css=\".vc_custom_1453403441710{margin-top: -60px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}\"][vc_column][vc_column_text]\r\n<h2>COVID-19 disease<\/h2>\r\nAccording to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Current evidence indicates that COVID-19 does not appear to directly impact newborns. Few novel coronavirus infections have been reported in newborns, and these were almost uniformly asymptomatic. The few that had symptoms were reported to have mild illness.\r\n<h2><strong>There is no evidence of vertical mother-to-newborn transmission during pregnancy or via breastfeeding.<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\r\n<h2>Indirect adverse effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy and newborns<\/h2>\r\nWhereas the <strong>direct effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy and newborns are minimal, indirect adverse effects are becoming increasingly apparent<\/strong> and important areas of concern. These include potential disruptions of routine maternal and newborn health (MNH) care that is essential for the health and survival of mothers and newborns. Countries\u2019 responses to the pandemic \u2013 such as social distancing measures \u2013 can pose threats to continuing best practices by health care providers, as well as to home caregiver practices that are essential to newborn health and survival. Leading <strong>examples of these threats to best MNH practices<\/strong> include:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>separation of mothers and newborns instead of promoting immediate skin-to-skin contact and rooming in, in facilities, and<\/li>\r\n \t<li>immediate and exclusive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/issue\/breastfeeding-and-feeding-of-small-and-sick-newborns\/\">breastfeeding<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/issue\/kangaroo-mother-care\/\">Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC)<\/a> for preterm and small babies.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThus, pandemic mitigation by social distancing should not result in unintended harm to mothers and their newborns.\r\n\r\nThere is also a risk to mothers and babies that pandemic responses limit needed psychosocial support to mothers during pregnancy, delivery, and in the postpartum period. Additionally, the economic toll of the pandemic response poses serious risks to many families \u2013 especially mothers and newborns \u2013 living in poverty or near-poverty. Policies and programs must recognize and take steps to prevent or ameliorate these important risks which may otherwise be overlooked. These can include food insecurity, loss of livelihoods, misinformation, and lockdown-induced social isolation and loss of vital community\/family support.\r\n\r\nThe World Health Organization (WHO) and partners continue to monitor the evidence and provide guidance accordingly.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=\"stretch_row\" css=\".vc_custom_1452696349804{margin-top: 30px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #f6f6f4 !important;}\"][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Key Resources:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/WHO-2019-nCoV-clinical-2021-2\">Living guidance for clinical management of COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0(WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/resource\/questions-and-answers-covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy\/\">Questions and Answers: COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/coronavirus\/navigating-pregnancy-during-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-pandemic\">Navigating pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 How to best protect yourself and your baby<\/a> (UNICEF)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/event\/maintaining-essential-mnch-services-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-lessons-from-19-countries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maintaining essential MNCH services during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from 19 countries<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/technical-guidance\">View WHO Technical and Country Guidance<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/question-and-answers-hub\/q-a-detail\/q-a-on-covid-19-pregnancy-and-childbirth\">COVID-19, pregnancy & childbirth<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/action\/showPdf?pii=S1473-3099%2820%2930157-2\">Guideline for pregnant women with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection<\/a> (Lancet)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/coronavirus?dgcid=kr_pop-up_tlcoronavirus20\">Covid-19 Resource Center\u00a0<\/a>(Lancet)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/question-and-answers-hub\/q-a-detail\/q-a-on-covid-19-and-breastfeeding\">COVID-19 & breastfeeding<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/commentaries\/detail\/breastfeeding-and-covid-19\">Breastfeeding and COVID-19 Scientific Brief<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/resource\/guidelines-for-continued-newborn-healthcare-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\">Guidelines for continued newborn healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: compiled programmatic information for implementers and project managers<\/a> (WHO)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/resource\/covid-19-technical-brief-for-antenatal-care-services\/\">COVID-19 Technical Brief for Antenatal Care Services<\/a> (UNFPA)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/resource\/covid-19-technical-brief-for-maternal-services\/\">COVID-19 Technical Brief for Maternal Service<\/a> (UNFPA)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancingnutrition.org\/news-events\/2020\/04\/24\/infant-and-young-child-feeding-recommendations-when-covid-19-suspected-or\">Infant and Young Child Feeding Recommendations When COVID-19 is Suspected or Confirmed<\/a> (USAID, UNICEF & IFE)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/resourcecentre.savethechildren.net\/library\/iycf-tools-context-covid-19\">Infant and Young Child Feeding Tools in the Context of COVID-19<\/a> (Save the Children)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Additional resources are regularly updated on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\">WHO website<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","post_title":"COVID-19","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"covid-19","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-09-30 17:57:07","post_modified_gmt":"2022-09-30 21:57:07","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/?post_type=issue&p=49497","menu_order":0,"post_type":"issue","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"regions":[{"ID":247,"post_author":"7211","post_date":"2015-11-22 21:37:22","post_date_gmt":"2015-11-22 21:37:22","post_content":"","post_title":"Africa","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"africa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2016-02-11 21:42:43","post_modified_gmt":"2016-02-11 21:42:43","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/?post_type=region&p=247","menu_order":0,"post_type":"region","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"countries":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/43965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/43965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}