Aabid Rashid Malik
Coronavirus also called as COVID-19 Disease with its first outbreak in Wuhan city the main provenance of china in December 2019. The outbreak of covid-19 was declared by WHO as pandemic on march 2020. India is one among the most countries affected by the covid-19 including our UT Jammu and Kashmir where 62 cases and 2 deaths were reported by official figures.
The covid-19 outbreak is upending daily life everywhere. Pregnant women and others anticipating the birth of a new baby have good reason to wonder what kind of affects the novel coronavirus will have on health of their unborn children. The centers of disease control and protection (CDC) do not yet know if covid-19 affects the health of fetus or a newborn or how it may impact pregnancy and childbirth. The world health organization is urging pregnant women to take all the precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to SARS-COV 2, the virus that causes covid-19. Any pregnant women who experiences symptoms of covid-19 must inform their health care providers immediately. The American college of obstetricians and gynecologists (ACOG) do not yet know how covid-19 will affect pregnant women or their unborn babies. The ACOG do know, however that pregnant women are at increased risk of severe illness from other diseases that attack the respiratory system, such as influenza and SARS. This indicates that covid-19 could potentially carry a similar risk.
Pregnancy: To date, only a few pregnant women with covid-19 have given birth. However, the CDC reported that no babies born to women with the disease have tested positive for the virus. There have been instances of women with covid-19 delivering prematurely, but scientists cannot say for sure that these early births were due to COVID-19.
More research is necessary to understand the effects that covid-19 may have on the health of a fetus or newborn.
Giving Birth: Pregnant women with covid-19 need to follow the same procedure as anyone else with the disease, even while they are on their way to the hospital to deliver. Many hospitals have separate entrances for people who have COVID-19, so contact the hospital well before hand to learn their protocol. This is especially important for women already in labor.
Scientists and researchers have very little data to work with when it comes to determining how covid-19 affects birth. However some researchers identified that many of the babies born to women who had covid-19 were born preterm. However there is not enough data to determine whether the preterm deliveries occurred due to complications stemming from covid-19 itself or other causes. According to CDC, researchers have not found the virus in the amniotic fluid of women with covid-19.
After Birth : Due to recent outbreak of covid-19 researchers had not too much time to study its effects on the outlook of infants born to mothers with covid-19. However health care professionals will need to take special action for a baby to a woman with covid-19. They should treat the baby as a person under investigation for covid-19.The world health organization still encourage mothers with covid-19 to hold and breastfeed their babies because this close connection is essential for newborn babies. They also encourage mothers to share room with their babies but must follow strict safety procedures.
Breast Feeding: One of the biggest question is that whether the women with covid-19 positive should feed the newborn or not? Breast milk has many benefits for newborns – it is not only rich in nutrients, but it is also a great source of antibodies and hormones that protect newborns from disease and help them to grow strong. Experts generally recommend that women breastfeed as much as possible. But women with covid-19 might worry about passing the virus on their infants. However, women with covid-19 must take precautions to ensure they do not transmit the virus to their baby while breastfeeding. Women who plan to breastfeed should wear a facemask and disinfect their hands before touching the baby. If a women with covid-19 plans to pump her breast milk, she must disinfect her hands and pump before and after each use and someone who does not have the disease should do the actual feeding.
(The author is a pass out of Bibi Halima College of nursing and medical technology Srinagar. Views are his own, [email protected])
