Is there any influence from the covid pandemic

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A number of studies around the world report that during this pandemic there has been an increasing trend in the number of pregnancies ending with stillbirth or stillbirth, where the baby dies in the womb.

What has led to the increase in the number of stillbirths during the COVID-19 outbreak?

The increasing number of stillbirths during the pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recorded that nearly two million babies died in the womb or stillborn, in a press release on Thursday (8/10). They warned that the COVID-19 pandemic conditions could add up to 200,000 deaths.

“Every 16 seconds, a mother somewhere will suffer tragedy stillbirth, ”Said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. He said most stillbirths could be prevented with better monitoring, proper antenatal care and skilled midwives.

The largest study reporting an increase in the stillbirth rate is published in The Lancet Journal (10/8). This study is based on data from 20 thousand pregnant women who gave birth in 9 hospitals in Nepal. According to the study the stillbirth rate increased from 14 stillbirth per 1000 births to 21 per 1000 births during the pandemic at the end of May. This sharp increase occurred during the first four weeks lockdown where people are only allowed to go out to buy food and emergency care.

An increase in stillbirths was also reported by various hospitals in many countries from all over the world. In the UK, the increase in stillbirths is reported to have increased in the period April and June. During this period, there were 40 cases of stillbirths compared to 24 cases in the same period in 2019.

Scotland, one of the few countries that collects monthly data on stillbirths and infant deaths, is also seeing an increase in cases stillbirth in his country.

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What effect will a pandemic have on infant mortality in the womb?

The increase in the number of stillbirths reported is not due to COVID-19 infection. Ashish K.C., perinatal epidemiologist at Uppsala University, Sweden, said this was most likely the result of a pandemic condition affecting access to health facilities. The delay in regular check-ups to an antenatal care facility is likely to result in complications that may lead to late treatment of stillbirth.

Pregnant women may not be able to carry out checks because of limited public transportation or because health facilities limit the number of visits.

Under normal conditions, WHO recommends that all pregnant women be checked by a medical professional at least 8 times during pregnancy, even if they are low-risk pregnancies. This is intended to detect and deal with problems that could harm the mother, the baby, or both more quickly. Most of the risk of stillbirth can be prevented by telling the midwife or doctor if the baby is sedentary. In addition, risk factors that are usually monitored in pregnant women are fetal growth and high blood pressure during pregnancy.

During times of the pandemic, obstetric professional associations recommend replacing face-to-face pregnancy consultations with online consultations.

“One of the problems is that you can't measure someone's blood pressure over the phone. Of course if pregnant women have high blood pressure then it is not good for the mother or the baby. We did not encounter this problem before the pandemic, ”said dr. Jane Warland, lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia.

In Indonesia, concerns about the emergence of pregnancy problems have also been raised by experts since the beginning of the pandemic. Therefore, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) urges young couples to postpone pregnancy plans until the pandemic can be handled. The aim is to ensure that the quality of access to health for pregnant women can be better maintained.