Women in labour are holding off going to the hospital until very late due to fears of contracting the coronavirus disease, according to the chief midwifery manager at Mater Dei Hospital.
Midwives say women have been waiting until they “could no longer take the pain” before admitting themselves to hospital, putting themselves at risk of delivering the baby at home or on the way, Carmela Pace told Times of Malta.
“We are worried about this. The delivery can be very quick and mothers risk giving birth in an environment not appropriate for delivering the baby,” she said.
Since pregnant women were swab tested for COVID-19 upon entry into the central delivery suite, and separated accordingly, there was no need for them to be anxious, Pace explained.
She warned that a multi-disciplinary team was necessary to ensure the safety of home births.
“The hospital is the safest place to give birth. There is no need for mothers to worry because the staff have been properly trained,” she said.
Pregnant women are advised to go to hospital immediately if there is any rupture of membranes and if they have been experiencing contractions regularly.
Birth registrations online
Birth registrations are going online to avoid parents having to queue up to register their newborns at the offices in Valletta, a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry said.
Despite doctors’ orders for new parents to stay at home until further instructions, a family recently expressed frustration that the only choice they were given to register their son was in person at the Public Registry Office.
“We have called three times since my son was born on March 18 asking to send the application by e-mail, but each time they told us we have to come in person even though it is a risk,” said the mother, who preferred not to be named.
Parents can usually register their babies in hospitals but the service has been suspended because of the novel coronavirus outbreak and they have been told to go to the Public Registry Office instead.
However, Identity Malta is now developing software to enable online birth registration, a spokesperson said.
Until then, parents would be served efficiently without having to make unnecessary contact with the public, he added.