| dc.description.abstract | Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a deadly respiratory viral disease
that started in China in the year 2019 before spreading to the world. It affects
everybody regardless of race, religion, social economic status or age. However,
literature
indicates
that
people
with
compromised
immune
status
are
at
a
higher
risk
of
contracting
viral
infections.
During
pregnancy,
the
immune
status
of
the
woman
is
suppressed
because
it
acts
to
protect
both
the
mother
and
her
unborn
baby.
The
purpose
of
this
study
was
to
provide
an
overview
of
available
evidence
on
the
risk
of
contracting
COVID-19
and
COVID-19
infection
prevention
among
pregnant
women.
Relevant
and
recent
articles
were
identified
from
various
databases.
Article
selection
was
aligned
to
the
study
questions.
Articles
that
were
related
to
study
objectives
were
included
and
those
not
related
to
study
objectives
were
excluded.
A
narrative
report
was
produced
and
results
were
described
according
to
study
objectives.
Approximately
8
data
sources
were
included
and
most
of
the
reviewed
articles
indicated
that
pregnant
women
are
at
a higher
risk
of
getting
COVID-19.
The
reviews
further
indicated that pregnant women can be prevented from this
deadly virus by providing community antenatal services instead of visiting the
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 10,
671-677.
https://doi.org/10.4236/ojog.2020.1050060
Received: April 16, 2020
Accepted: May 8, 2020
Published: May 11, 2020
Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access
health facilities. If a pregnant woman develops symptoms of respiratory infection,
it
is
advisable
to
seek
immediate
diagnosis
to
rule
out
COVID-19
and
get
appropriate
management
to
avoid
complications.
The
selected
studies’
quality
was
appraised
through
Mixed
Methods
Appraisal
Tool
(MMAT)
version
2018.
Knowledge
on
the
risk
of
COVID-19
infection
among
pregnant
women
will
help
health
workers
especially
midwives
who
take
care
of
pregnant
women
to
design
confidently
and
put
into
action
preventive
programs
to
address
health
needs
of
pregnant
women
who
are
at
a
higher
risk
of
contracting
COVID-19
as
compared
to
other
people
in
the
general
population.
This also will assist health workers to provide appropriate care to pregnant
women on the basis of their COVID-19 infection risk status at health facility
and community levels. This study review is also creating more awareness on the risk of COVID-19 to pregnant women even in communities. It serves as
evidence to guide health policymakers to put emphasis on addressing the
preventive measure of this greatly vulnerable group of population. To prevent
COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, pregnant women should strictly follow
the
laid
down
measures
of
prevention
by
World
Health
Organisation
(WHO)
and
their
local
health
authorities | en_US |
