The rate of women dying in childbirth in west African countries hit by the Ebola epidemic is soaring, with as many as one in seven at risk of death as fear of contact with bodily fluids prevents people helping them, aid charities said yesterday.
The UN Population Fund estimates that 800,000 women in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are due to give birth in the next 12 months.
Of these, about 120,000 could face life-threatening complications if they do not get the emergency care they need and tens of thousands could die, according to the Disasters Emergency Committee, a group of 13 leading UK charities, including Save the Children and ActionAid.
ActionAid in Liberia head Korto Williams said that many women were being left to give birth alone because stigma and ignorance meant people around them feared they might have Ebola and stayed away.
Too many women have died because of lack of care, she said, adding that video clips on the Internet show women giving birth in the streets of Monrovia with no one helping.
Williams said the “horrendous prediction” of one in seven women dying in childbirth was a “worst-case scenario,” but added: “We have to do more to ... stop this coming true. We have to ensure that pregnant women get the care they urgently need or we will see the rate of maternal deaths skyrocket.”
The world’s worst Ebola epidemic, which emerged in Guinea in March, has infected more than 13,000 people and killed almost 5,000 in the three worst-hit countries, WHO figures show.
Global health specialists have said that with clinics overwhelmed with thousands of Ebola cases, people with other diseases like malaria or tuberculosis and those with conditions needing medical care are likely to suffer.
“Ebola is having a huge impact on wider health issues like maternal healthcare,” Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth said. “No children have gone to school since March and pregnant moms are avoiding health clinics and hospitals.”
In a joint statement, the 13 charities said speeding up the creation of more Ebola-focused treatment centers so that other health facilities can function normally would be essential to avoiding the feared rise in maternal deaths.
The group also called for more protective and sanitation equipment to be provided, as well as treatment units specifically for health workers, to enable midwives to work safely and without unnecessary risks.
Meanwhile, Canada on Monday ramped up travel restrictions for people returning from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone, officials said, and said “high risk” travelers should be closely monitored for symptoms or admitted to a special facility.
The “high risk” travelers could be asked to quarantine at a “facility” for the 21-day incubation period, but Canada’s Public Health Agency did not specify what this could entail.
People presenting symptoms of Ebola “will be immediately isolated and sent to hospital for a medical examination,” it said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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