The provision of quality and continuous maternal newborn health services are critical in the prevention of maternal and child mortality as well as the development of complications and abnormalities. According to the WHO, every woman has the right to receive the highest attainable standard of health, and with this comes the right to a dignified and respectful care especially in the event of pregnancy and childbirth. Respectful maternity care is not just an important component of quality care, but instead it is also considered a human right. Although human rights are indivisible and universal, these are not always observed. Now with the ongoing pandemic, it further exposed the impact of inequities in health systems including health services related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care. In addition, the policies intended to address the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the pregnant woman’s experiences on the lack of respectful maternity care.
Harmful experiences that pregnant women face when availing for health services include neglect, disrespect, discrimination and even physical and verbal abuse. The pandemic most likely increased the frequency of these mistreatments. Instances such as the restriction of having a companion during labor and delivery, in compliance to social distancing, increases the likelihood of a pregnant woman to experience these unpleasant encounters. The pandemic also allowed for medical interventions, such as instrumental and cesarean deliveries, that are done on COVID-19 positive women without clear medical justification. With regards to postpartum women who are positive for COVID-19, their newborns are separated from them, depriving both the mother and the infant of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. These experiences contribute to a poor physical and mental health of pregnant women and therefore putting them at risk (Reingold et al., 2020).
The guidance from WHO on quality maternal and newborn health care has not been widely practiced during the pandemic, and doing so the measures being implemented are based on fear instead of evidences and rights. With this, innovation and flexibility in the delivery of maternal and newborn services should be encouraged. If the rights are to be limited to extreme circumstances, it should still be able to strictly adhere to the human rights law (Jolivet, et al., 2020). This pandemic has affected everyone and we are doing everything we can to stop its spread. But just because the measures and policies that we have created benefit most of us doesn’t mean that we could overlook those that are affected by the restrictions we have placed so that most of us can feel safe.
REFERENCES
Jolivet, R., Warren, C., P., S., Ateva, E., Gausman, J., Mitchell, K., . . . Langer, A. (2020). Upholding Rights Under COVID-19: The Respectful Maternity Care Charter. Health and Human Rights.
Reingold, R., Barbosa, I., & Mishori, R. (2020). Respectful maternity care in the context of COVID-19: A human rights perspective.