In Bengaluru, gynaecologists have expressed alarm over the rising number of pregnant women contracting Covid. While the majority of these women remain asymptomatic, the knowledge that they have been infected by the virus has caused stress in the women and their families.
While the exact number of infected pregnant women is unknown, the positive rate among them is about the same as the general population, according to Dr Savitha C, head of the Vani Vilas hospital's obstetrics and gynaecology department. She's also a member of the Covid Technical Experts Committee for the state.
Dr. Hema Divakar, a gynaecologist, said, “five out of 10 pregnant women tested for Covid return a positive test.”
Nearly 100 expectant women have visited HSIS Gosha hospital in Bengaluru, a specialised Covid-19 facility for maternity care, with 90 of them giving birth. Only three infants were found to be infected with the virus.
According to Dr. Padmini Prasad, president of the Bengaluru Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (BSOG), the current condition is significantly better than the prior two rounds. Dr. Prasad said, “in the second wave, many pregnant women who contracted Covid faced abortion, premature delivery and many needed to be treated in the ICU. This time, things are much better with fever lasting for only three days.” She also mentioned that the majority of them are completely vaccinated.
Aside from the temperature, many women complain of weakness and exhaustion. Dr Prasad said, “however, we don’t know what the long-term effect will be.”
‘How did I contract Covid despite not stepping out of the house’ is a popular query. While pregnant women are not immobile, they are not invulnerable, according to Dr. Savitha. She added, “Family members who move around could have spread the infection. Once a family member tests positive, the woman is more vulnerable.”
Anxiety increases But, according to physicians, strict seclusion is what turns people off the most. These mothers, according to Dr Divakar, require counselling because they are always worrying about their baby, even when they have no or minor symptoms. They get increasingly worried as a result of their seclusion. Dr Divakar, “solitary confinement affects them. Since they don’t have people around them, they worry over all sorts of things, right from the baby’s development to thoughts about stigma and what could happen during delivery.”
Despite experiencing symptoms, some women opt out of testing. They later worry about whether or not they were infected. Doctors claim that in most cases, just paracetamol is administered, while antibiotics may be prescribed in exceptional circumstances. Dr Divakar added, “in this wave, we have no confusion about medicines at all. No ivermectin, remdesivir or molnupiravir. Very occasionally we prescribe antibiotics.”
Dr. Savitha, on the other hand, claims that there are no isolation-related problems among the women at Vani Vilas Hospital. She added, “it depends on the person’s socio-economic status too. We haven’t come across this issue.”
She claims that guaranteeing mask compliance among her patients is difficult in and of itself, and that due to a lack of facilities, they may not have secluded themselves at all. She said, “unlike the previous waves, now the isolation period is reduced to seven days only. Besides, it’s possible that the more they read about Covid, the more worried they would get.”
The health agency intends to keep track of pregnant women who are positive. D Randeep, the commissioner of health, stated, “we don’t have that data yet, but as an evolving strategy, we need to have it. In most cases, Covid finding is incidental among pregnant women ahead of delivery. In the second wave too, we have seen successful deliveries, despite Covid. ”
