Author: Kirkimbaeva Sandugash.
Translator: Merentsova Anastasia
Copy editors: Kigbaeva Kamila, Issabayeva Madina
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, a high proportion of pregnant women from Black and Ethnic Minority Groups (BAMEs) admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 need an urgent examination.
Of the 427 pregnant women examined in the UK between March and April, more than half were from this group, which is almost three times the expected number. Most were late in pregnancy and had mild symptoms.
The results show that among pregnant women with coronavirus infection who were admitted to 194 obstetric wards throughout the UK within six weeks:
• 56% were from black, Asian, or other ethnic minorities (25% are Asians, 22% are black). “In normal times, that figure is 20%,” says Marian Knight, lead author, health professor at Oxford University for Maternal and Child Health.
• 70% were overweight or obese.
• 40% were aged 35 and over.
• 34% had a healthy state.
Marian Knight believes:
“The explanation for why BAME pregnant women are disproportionately affected by coronavirus is not simple or not easy to solve. We need to talk with the women themselves, as well as with the healthcare providers, to get more information. Covid is a lens that shows us how important the differences are. ”
She also said that women from some communities may be reluctant to seek help and advice at an early stage if they feel unwell. One in ten pregnant women who should have been tested, needed respiratory support in the intensive care unit at the hospital, while three women died from Covid-19 complications.
Also, data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System showed that 12 (5%) children born to mothers in the study tested positive for Covid-19, half of them in the first 12 hours after birth, but not one of them was not seriously ill.
The midwives said that “a clear and immediate direction” from the government was needed to solve the problem. Jill Walton of King's College of Midwives says: “The government system is failing the affected communities, and that has to change quickly, because they and their lives matter, and they deserve the best and safest care.”
According to the results of the study, scientists identified another risk group in the form of pregnant women with ethnic characteristics, which implies the selectivity of coronavirus infection and pushes to strengthen protective regimes in this group.
Sourse: https://www.bbc.com/news/
