Ebola Fears in Pregnant Women Reducing Healthcare Use

   MEDSCAPE     by  Laurie Barclay, MD    Dec. 31, 2014
Ebola fears and misconceptions reduced health facility use by pregnant and lactating women in Kenema District, Sierra Leone, according to findings from focus group discussions published in the January 2, 2015, issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality ratio and the fourth highest neonatal mortality rate in the world," write Michelle M. Dynes, PhD, from the Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues. "By straining the fragile health care infrastructure, the [Ebola] epidemic might put pregnant women and their newborns at even greater risk for adverse outcomes."

Uptake of routine maternal and newborn healthcare is therefore essential to lowering infant and maternal mortality. Focus group discussions suggested that infection prevention and control training would reduce fear among healthcare workers and could help improve women's confidence in health facility safety.

Sierra Leone public health departments are using this information to create public health messages designed to encourage the use of maternal and newborn healthcare services....

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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/837456

Read CDC Report.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

 Perceptions of the Risk for Ebola and Health Facility Use Among Health Workers and Pregnant and Lactating Women — Kenema District, Sierra Leone, September 2014

 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6351a3.htm