More than 2,300 pregnant women have died from this virus in Latin America.
The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa F. Etienne, warned that at least 1,000 pregnant women have died from complications of the virus in the Americas; however, to date, the organization has registered 2,300 deaths. In Ecuador, according to data from the Ministry of Health, 48 women have died from complications caused by Covid-19.
Data from 24 countries indicate that more than 200,000 pregnant women contracted Covid-19. Etienne explained the situation in the region:
“If this continues, the pandemic is expected to wipe out more than 20 years of progress in expanding women’s access to family planning and in the fight against maternal mortality in the Region. Almost all maternal deaths are preventable and even returning to pre-pandemic maternal mortality levels, which were already high, could take more than a decade.
On the other hand, an investigation by the University of Oxford revealed that infected women during pregnancy are 20 times more likely to die.
According to representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, in Ecuador, the deaths occurred because pregnant women were not included in the inoculation processes of the previous government or in the vaccination plan; however, they are currently a priority to receive the vaccine.
In the case of Ursula Caiza, she suffered lacerations from complications in her sixth month of pregnancy, she was admitted to the hospital with 75% of her lungs infected. Doctors to save her life took her baby out prematurely. She survived, but lost her baby after four days.
The PAHO director warned that, if this continues, progress in reducing maternal mortality could disappear, and she asked to guarantee access to care for women, adolescents and girls during the pandemic. Etienne mentioned
“I want to highlight the devastating health, social and economic repercussions that this virus has had on women.”
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