‘Infections during pregnancy affect child health’
A gynaecologist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Dr Kweku Asah-Poku, has stated that in order to prevent infections during pregnancy and childbirth, it was necessary for prospective mothers to undergo lessons in preconception healthcare.
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According to him, most infections in newborns were acquired from mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or after birth.
Dr Asah-Poku was speaking at a ‘Meet the Practitioners’ seminar in Accra last Saturday.
The seminar
The seminar, themed: “Infections in pregnancy and childbirth, infections in children”, was organised by the Centre for Pregnancy and Childbirth Education (CePaCE), in collaboration with the Health Alliance Network, with the aim of disseminating information regarding healthy childbirth and childcare practices.
Diseases
According to Dr Asah-Poku, sexually transmitted diseases, urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginosis, rubella, flu, chicken pox, candidiasis, malaria and herpes in mothers could be transmitted to newborns, thus making it necessary for future mothers to receive preconception health care information.
“Formation of the foetus during pregnancy is a delicate process and leads to suppression of the immune system. Infections from the mother to the baby can be passed through the placenta during delivery or through breast milk. The timing of introducing infections during pregnancy may influence the severity of the effect of infection from mother to child,” he said.
A 2016 sentinel survey report indicated that 2.4 per cent of women who reported for antenatal care had HIV and AIDS with the rate of infection prevalent among the young population of 15 to 24 years while the proxy for new infections remained at 1.1 per cent.
Dr Asah-Poku also stated that among pregnant women, malaria accounted for 28.1 per cent of out-patient attendance; 13.7 per cent of admissions and 9.0 per cent of maternal deaths.
“In 2013, about seven per cent of pregnant women at the Komfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi were infected with Rubella while Hepatitis B infection in pregnant women ranges between 10.8 per cent and 13.1 per cent. Median Syphilis prevalence in Ghana is 0.2 per cent,” he added.
Effects
He said infections during pregnancy could, in addition, lead to certain unbearable risks and consequences for both mother and unborn child such as general weakness, premature labour and rupture of the newborn babies’ membranes.
Under the circumstances, Dr Asah-Poku advised that proper diagnosis of infections and appropriate treatment were essential in reducing the effects of such infections in pregnancy.
He said considering that prevention was better than cure, there was the need, therefore, for continuous public education on infections in pregnancy.
Symptoms
For her part, the Head of the Paediatric Department of La General Hospital (LGH), Dr Benedicta Ewurabena Antwi, observed that tests were sometimes needed to find out the underlying causes of infections in babies since signs and symptoms of paediatric infections were usually the same.
“Fever, vomiting, irritability, refusal of feeds, lethargy, seizures, diarrhoea, ear infections, cough and cold are likely to infect a growing child but these can be as a result of the environment or the process of handling babies,” she said.
According to Dr Antwi, prompt management and intervention from the home and health centres were crucial in saving lives as paediatric infections occurred frequently through everyday living.
The Executive Director of CePaCE, Mrs Eleanora Baffour Agyei, said the seminar was aimed at bridging the gap between health practitioners and the public, as well as broaden knowledge on child health care.