Since the start of the pandemic in Ibiza and Formentera, 300 pregnant women have been infected with covid

Since the start of the pandemic, 300 women in Ibiza and Formentera have been infected with coronavirus during pregnancy. One hundred of them have passed the covid in the current wave, which doctors have begun to refer to as the “omicron wave,” a level that corresponds to the general population’s infection rate in recent weeks. The Hospital Can Misses’ service of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Ibiza cautions that barely half of the pregnant women under control at this moment have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Raquel Gascón, a gynaecologist, adds that the low number of pregnant women who followed the entire recommendation is due to “still anxiety and concern” among women about whether the vaccine could harm the baby’s health “with such a new vaccine.” “It is critical that they are immunised. It is critical that they obtain the third dose,” says the specialist, who adds that the vaccine’s immunity “decreases after five or six months.” Furthermore, pregnant women are among the most vulnerable people. “There is a higher risk of complications, compared to other women of the same age who are not pregnant, if they have to be admitted to the ICU and are given mechanical ventilation,” says the gynaecologist, who insists that the covid vaccine is “totally compatible” with others that can be given during the gestation period. They can both be administered at the same time, with no time limit between them. “Women should trust the research behind this vaccine in the same way they do with folic acid. There is no risk to their or their baby’s health.  On the contrary,” continues the gynaecologist, “the risk of vertical transmission of covid, that is, from an infected mother to her newborn, to whom the test is given, is very low, barely 2%.”

Pregnant women in the intensive care unit at Ibiza’s hospital

According to the hospital, 1% of unvaccinated pregnant women diagnosed with coronavirus end up in Can Misses’ ICU (where there is currently one) with “severe consequences.” The fact that a pregnant woman must be admitted to the ICU poses a significant risk. Not only must pharmaceuticals be supplied, but it is also extremely difficult to employ tactics that have been demonstrated to work. Because of the belly, for example, placing the patient face down in what is known as prone. Professionals must understand how to put cushions so that mobilisation does not impact the baby in order to be able to turn a pregnant woman so she can breathe better. The ICU and Gynecology Department are constantly monitoring the mother’s and fetus’s progress. “We don’t have one patient in these circumstances; we have two,” he says. We must keep a tight eye not just on the mother’s condition, but also on how the medication may harm the child on the way. He says that when the woman is sedated, the baby is also sedated. For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.