The support measures have been put in place after health officials could not find a hospital bed last August for a woman who was infected with the coronavirus while eight months pregnant. She was forced to give birth at her home in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, and the baby died.
At the time, Japan faced a wave of delta variable infections. The lead secretary of the Cupboard at the time, Kato Katsunobu, called on local governments that inflamed pregnant mothers are taking more care of themselves.
Ensuring that pregnant women get priority for vaccinations was one of the first changes. That measure was implemented in late August after several studies, including one published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offered assurances that the shots are safe for mothers-to-be and fetuses.
Medical evidence also emerged that women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy are at increased risk of preterm birth.
Okayama Prefecture officials, in western Japan, were the first to act.
“Vaccination is vital to protect pregnant people from coronavirus, as they are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19,” said Governor Ibaragi Ryuta. “We are now confident to encourage every pregnant woman to get vaccinated, no matter what stage of their pregnancy.”
A term woman in a vaccination medium in Okayama told NHK that she felt less worried after receiving a shot. “I was very worried when I saw the news of the baby’s death in August,” he said. “I was also worried about an adverse reaction to vaccination, but I to advance. “
The prefectural government is now preparing to offer reinforcements. They must be in Japan for those who earned their vaccination moment opposite vaccination at least six months ago. Most pregnant women in Okayama have not yet been successful in this period, however, the authorities say they will inspire them when the time comes.
However, vaccination offers complete coverage opposite to the virus, so some pregnant women are still infected.
Chiba’s Prefecture has a new device to follow the aptitude of pregnant women and make sure they can a status quo in an emergency.
By the end of January, more than 30 expectant mothers had been issued with devices that monitor fetal heart rate and contractions of the uterus. The data is automatically linked to medical facilities, where staff can react quickly to any problems.
Prefectural officials have also set up a network that shares information. Instead of having to contact a medical facility one by one to find a hospital bed for a pregnant woman, they can now check with several hospitals at one time. The system continues to alert facilities until one of them offers a bed.
Ohsone Yoshiteru, the director of Chiba University Hospital’s Perinatal Medical Center, says five women have been helped: “We can identify the condition of a infected mother and each facility can decide whether to admit her within 15 minutes.”
While the new pregnant measures obtain the women they need, the neonatal extensive care sets (UCIN) are suffering to keep up with demand.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the factory beds were almost occupied, especially in large cities near Tokyo. Pandemia has made it difficult to look for facilities with a vacant bed and a hospital bed for the mother at the same time.
Medical staff deserves to prepare for the option of inopportune births or infections in newborns when the mother has the virus. The sections of the C section are favored for deliveries in those cases, infection for medical personnel is also consideration.
The United Nations Fund for the Nation, or UNICEF, reported in 2018 that Japan is one of the safest to be born. But Ohsone emphasizes that this creates a paradox.
“Japan has one of the highest child survival rates in the world,” he says. “This means that the number of days spent with young children in the NICU is also high. The longer the bed occupancy, the more complicated it is to locate a bed for newcomers. We can’t immediately pile up the number of NICU beds because we wish more doctors would fill them. “
While officials in some parts of Japan say the Omicron surge appears to have peaked, a large number of patients are still self-isolating at home. That includes pregnant women whose condition and care is of utmost concern.