There is still no data that make it clear whether pregnant women are more susceptible to coronavirus infection than the rest of the population. Can expectant mothers feel safe? In this text we try to answer this question.
Table of contents:
- Pregnancy and coronavirus - protective measures
- Recommended management pathway for pregnant women
- Pregnancy - research
- Common sense is the key
Despite the lack of specific studies on COVID-19, it has been shown that pregnant women are at a higher risk of developing acute symptoms with other viral respiratory infections (e.g. influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS). This means that it would not be abusive to classify pregnant women as being at higher risk for COVID-19 infection.
Pregnancy and coronavirus - protective measures
Pregnant women, like the rest of the population, are covered by standard prophylaxis, which consists of:
- hand hygiene (regular washing with soap and water or, when this is not possible, with disinfectants),
- refraining from touching the mouth, eyes, nose with the hands,
- avoiding human clusters (keeping a safe distance, avoiding COVID-19 patients or those with suspected coronavirus infection),
- staying at home (leaving only when justified),
- when sneezing or coughing, cover mouth and nose with bent elbow or tissue (should be thrown away immediately afterwards and hands disinfected).
Recommended course of action for pregnant women
The Polish Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians publishes important information for pregnant women on an ongoing basis on its website - guiding gynaecological and obstetric management. As emphasised by the Society: The epidemiological situation, unfortunately constantly worsening, forces a revision of the above-mentioned management in the period of the threat of global COVID-19 infection and the use of reason, obstetric knowledge, obstetric experience and forces an individual approach to each pregnant woman .
The PTGiP has issued an appeal to doctors who have decided, in order to protect themselves, to limit the number of patients admitted to acute cases only, to be more accessible by telephone or e-mail to their own patients. In the current situation, doctors should be more 'remotely' available to patients.
The PTGiP proposes that information points, so-called ' e-advice', should be set up in clinics. A very good element of obstetric pregnancy management is the existence of 'pregnancy charts'. Every pregnant woman has such a document in which the visits made so far are entered, as well as the most important information from the course of such a pregnancy. If you are unable to continue your pregnancy with your doctor, you can take this document to another clinic, register and, if necessary, be examined. The examining doctor will have information on the course of the pregnancy to date, which will make it easier to manage the pregnancy and any treatment that may be required.
Pregnancy check-up, photo: panthermedia
Among the guidelines published on the Society's website we read:
- 'the number of visits should be kept to a minimum by prior arrangement by telephone with the maternity service. Do not be afraid that if the pregnancy is going well and it is already three weeks since the last visit that there will not be a check-up in a week. After virtual contact with the midwife or doctor, the appointment can and should be postponed - nothing should happen,
- if the pregnancy is at risk or there are symptoms threatening the pregnancy, you should inform "your" doctor, and in case you have no contact with him or her, you can go to a functioning hospital. But let us remember that contact with such a place concentrating different cases certainly increases the risk of infection. Let us decide to take this step as a last resort.
Pregnancy - research
In the opinion of specialists, currently during the pandemic, all gynaecological examinations and ultrasound examinations (especially the vaginal method) should be kept to a minimum and carried out with extreme caution (vaginal discharge is a dangerous infectious material).
Screening tests (such as the oral glucose load test) should also be postponed if possible.
Common sense is the basis
Pregnancy during a pandemic is certainly not easy, but it is important not to panic - the mother-to-be should be aware that any emotions she is experiencing have an impact on the baby (the baby feels her anxiety). By following the advice of specialists, nothing bad should happen.
