Peruvian midwife Flor Alvarado follows guidance on prevention and control of infection to a T to protect herself, her family and her clients from COVID-19.
Salvadorean midwife Carmen Otero, who works in maternal waiting homes for pregnant women in rural areas, run by the country’s Solidarity Fund for Health (FOSALUD), describes how, upon arrival at the shelter, pregnant women undergo a clinical evaluation by a team clad in protective equipment, and before they leave, they are taught how to prevent COVID-19 infection, information that they take home with them.
In Santiago, Leonor Andino, a midwife who also teaches at the University of Chile, says that in addition to using protective equipment, she and her colleagues bring their own food from home to avoid cafeteria crowds, and that she herself sleeps in her car to avoid crowded resting areas — whatever is needed to help them do their job in the best possible way and not spread or catch the virus.
Since the start of the pandemic, WHO has released and updated detailed information, guidance, guidelines, recommendations and other resources on a range of issues for the healthcare sector. Among these are resources including guidance documents for pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care in the context of COVID-19, guidance for health workers on their rights, roles and responsibilities, including key considerations for occupational safety and health, and infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus infection is suspected.
Read the full story: Helping women give birth during the pandemic: the experience of four midwives