By Sue-Ann Wayow
THERE has been an alarming increase in pregnant women who have contracted Covid-19 from last week to this week.
This is according to the Director of Women’s Health Dr Adesh Sirjusingh who spoke at the Ministry of Health virtual media conference on Wednesday.
Dr Sirjusingh said that the figure of Covid-19 positive pregnant women moved from 315 to 383 over the course of a week.
He said, “An additional 68 women from my calculation would have contracted Covid-19 since we last spoke and that is very alarming.”
Dr Sirjusingh also said that the numbers of Covid-19 positivity was increasing in pregnant women as pregnancy was a high risk situation.
The pregnant women who were more adversely affected by Covid-19 were in the second half of pregnancy with comorbidities like obesity and high blood pressure.
“Of the 383 Covid-19 positive women, 3% were in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at this time. There was still only one maternal death at this time and her baby was preterm delivered and successfully taken care of Dr Sirjusingh said.
Vaccines for pregnant women at hospitals
The Ministry of Health is also rolling out the second phase of Covid-19 vaccinations in the major antenatal clinics and postnatal wards throughout the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs).
Dr Sirjusingh said that the Pfizer as well as the Sinopharm vaccines were being used on these pregnant women within the wards of the RHAs.
He also said that previously first-dose Pfizer vaccines would have been rolled out at the mass vaccination sites and that the Eastern Regional Health Authority began its rollout this week.
The Pfizer vaccine which is being administered to pregnant women in their second trimester (after 13 weeks pregnant) is also being considered for use in breastfeeding women. The Sinopharm vaccine is currently being administered to breastfeeding women.
As of Tuesday, 172 pregnant women were vaccinated Dr Sirjusingh said which was a good start but he would also like to see an increase in those numbers.
Waiting too long to seek medical help
The doctor also said that there are currently 40% of pregnant patients waiting until after week 20 to have first clinical visits. He said, “By not seeking antenatal care you are missing out on critical care in pregnancy so we are playing catch-up.”
Despite this, Dr Sirjusingh said Trinidad and Tobago was doing very well globally in terms of sustainable development targets for the year 2030 when it comes to maternal mortality as well as the neonatal mortality rate which is less than seven per thousand live births.
He again encouraged the pregnant and breastfeeding population to take the vaccine as it not only provided some protection against Covid-19 for themselves but also to their child through breastfeeding.
