Due to lack of knowledge about the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women, it would be safer for them to stay at home, doctors said.
While there is no clear evidence that infected pregnant women and their babies are at an increased risk, more evidence is required to have a clearer picture, according to the Malta College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MCOG).
“Based on the evidence of the H1N1 pandemic [swine flu] the UK is adopting a policy of considering pregnant women at an increased risk and they have been advised to stay at home,” it said.
“In view of the paucity of data, it would be prudent to adopt this approach,” it added.
On Monday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Malta reached 107 and while there had been no cases of pregnant women or babies contracting the virus, the statement by the MCOG underlined it was inevitable that doctors would have to face a Covid-19 positive pregnant patient at some point.
To prevent the spread of the virus, the Central Delivery Suite at Mater Dei Hospital has been divided into three sections, separating COVID-19 positive patients, those in quarantine and other pregnant women, senior midwifery manager Charmaine Psaila told Times of Malta.
While the virus cannot be transmitted in utero, babies born to COVID-19 positive patients will have to be separated from their mothers immediately to prevent contamination, explained Psaila.
She added that they would be nursed and looked after in the paediatric ward, while the mothers would be encouraged to express their breast milk seeing as there was no risk of contamination there.
Doctors and midwives attending to positive patients would be protected by personal protective equipment and will follow procedures to ensure they do not get infected or transmit the infection to others, she said.
Other measures taken to protect postpartum women in general are a ban on family members and relatives visiting the family after the birth, both at the hospital and afterwards at home, Psaila outlined.
“Apart from the mother’s partner and the midwives who will continue to conduct postnatal visits, mothers and their babies should stay away from people until advised otherwise.”
At the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Outpatients at Mater Dei Hospital, measures have been taken to prevent overcrowding and, in light of this, pregnant patients were advised by the MCOG to attend their blood and ultrasound appointments and visits.
As regards the risk to women delivering their babies at the hospital, the MCOG stated: “We are confident with all the measures that have been put into place and the protocols that have been introduced, Mater Dei Hospital still represents the safest place for one to have a baby during these extraordinary times.”