This week is Safe Motherhood Week, the annual awareness week on maternal and neonatal health. This year’s theme is the impact of COVID-19 on maternal health and reproductive care, and the need to reduce the information gap on the safety of medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Highlighting the importance of maternal health, especially in light of the current pandemic, and aiming to raise awareness of the persistent information gap.
As a follow up to a 2020 ConcePTION survey on understanding the needs and preferences of women and health care professionals about information on medicine use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, last year Safe Motherhood Week conducted a survey. 416 women and 88 health care providers replied and helped identify how needs and preferences in reproductive care have been changing since the Coronavirus outbreak. The survey was translated into eight languages to reach women from a variety of backgrounds. According to Helena Harnik at the Synergist, one of the driving forces behind Safe Motherhood Week, they managed to collect heartfelt responses from women in over 30 countries around the world who wanted their stories to be heard.
“We were looking for insight into changes in the reproductive care of women during the pandemic. Remote contact with doctors and midwives increased, which many women reported had a significant impact on their experience. Many were unhappy with the way things had gone, and we received several heart-breaking stories about the difficulties they faced, too often alone,” Helena Harnik describes.
65% of women reported increased use of the internet as a source of reproductive care information compared to before the outbreak. Virtual support groups, like on Facebook or WhatsApp, were often utilised during this time and nearly half of women used these support groups for information or support as a replacement to asking their doctor, midwife, or pharmacist directly. The survey findings support the need for better online information on the safe use of medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding and the creation of a knowledge bank.
“The lack of information available on the safety of medicines used during pregnancy and breastfeeding is a real problem for real women. Through Safe Motherhood Week, we are also helping to raise awareness of this important gap in reproductive care, and the significance of the ConcePTION project, which is indeed a landmark public-private partnership. Working together to reduce uncertainty about the effects of medicines used during pregnancy and breastfeeding for women and healthcare professionals,” Helena Harnik concludes.
Learn more about Safe Motherhood Week