Pregant women with suspected, probale, or confirmed COVID-19 should have

• Access to women centered, respectiful, skilled care - including obstetric, fetal medicine and newborn care, as well as mental support.
• http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/field/image/COVID19-Pregnant-...

 Mothers with suspected, or confirmed COVID-19 who are breast feeding or performing skin-to-skin care should practice:

• Respiratory hygien including feeding
• Hand hygien before and after contact with the child
• Regular cleaning of surfaces with which the mother has been in contact
• http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/field/image/COVID19-Pregnant-...

Pregnant and recently pregnant women who have recovered from COVID-19 should be empowered to:

• attend routine antenatal, Intrapartum or Postpartum care as appropriate
• http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/field/image/COVID19-Pregnant-...

All pregnant women and mothers with infant should be provided with:

• Breastfeeding counseling, basic psychological support, and practical feeding suppot
• http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/field/image/COVID19-Pregnant-...

https://www.jhpiego.org/our-focus-during-COVID19/

Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for most infants. However, much is unknown about COVID-19. Whether and how to start or continue breastfeeding should be determined by the mother in coordination with her family and healthcare providers.  A mother with confirmed COVID-19 or who is a symptomatic PUI should take all possible precautions to avoid spreading the virus to her infant, including washing her hands before touching the infant and wearing a face mask, if possible, while feeding at the breast.  If expressing breast milk with a manual or electric breast pump, the mother should wash her hands before touching any pump or bottle parts and follow recommendations for proper pump cleaning after each use. If possible, consider having someone who is well feed the expressed breast milk to the infant.

Pregnant Women

What is the risk to pregnant women of getting COVID-19? Is it easier for pregnant women to become ill with the disease? If they become infected, will they be more sick than other people?

We do not currently know if pregnant women have a greater chance of getting sick from COVID-19 than the general public nor whether they are more likely to have serious illness as a result. Pregnant women experience changes in their bodies that may increase their risk of some infections. With viruses from the same family as COVID-19, and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza, women have had a higher risk of developing severe illness. It is always important for pregnant women to protect themselves from illnesses.

How can pregnant women protect themselves from getting COVID-19?

Pregnant women should do the same things as the general public to avoid infection. You can help stop the spread of COVID-19 by taking these actions:

• Cover your cough (using your elbow is a good technique)
• Avoid people who are sick
• Clean your hands often using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer

You can find additional information on preventing COVID-19 disease at CDC’s (Prevention for 2019 Novel Coronavirus).

Can COVID-19 cause problems for a pregnancy?

We do not know at this time if COVID-19 would cause problems during pregnancy or affect the health of the baby after birth.

 
During Pregnancy or Delivery

Can COVID-19 be passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus or newborn?

We still do not know if a pregnant woman with COVID-19 can pass the virus that causes COVID-19 to her fetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. No infants born to mothers with COVID-19 have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. In these cases, which are a small number, the virus was not found in samples of amniotic fluid or breastmilk.

Infants

If a pregnant woman has COVID-19 during pregnancy, will it hurt the baby?

We do not know at this time what if any risk is posed to infants of a pregnant woman who has COVID-19. There have been a small number of reported problems with pregnancy or delivery (e.g. preterm birth) in babies born to mothers who tested positive for COVID-19 during their pregnancy. However, it is not clear that these outcomes were related to maternal infection.

Breastfeeding

Interim Guidance on Breastfeeding for a Mother Confirmed or Under Investigation For COVID-19

This interim guidance is intended for women who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are persons-under-investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 and are currently breastfeeding. This interim guidance is based on what is currently known about COVID-19 and the transmission of other viral respiratory infections. CDC will update this interim guidance as needed as additional information becomes available. For breastfeeding guidance in the immediate postpartum setting, refer to Interim Considerations for Infection Prevention and Control of 2019 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Settings.

Transmission of COVID-19 through breast milk

Much is unknown about how COVID-19 is spread. Person-to-person spread is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza (flu) and other respiratory pathogens spread. In limited studies on women with COVID-19 and another coronavirus infection, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), the virus has not been detected in breast milk; however we do not know whether mothers with COVID-19 can transmit the virus via breast milk.

Guidance on breastfeeding for mothers with confirmed COVID-19 or under investigation for COVID-19

Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for most infants. However, much is unknown about COVID-19. Whether and how to start or continue breastfeeding should be determined by the mother in coordination with her family and healthcare providers.  A mother with confirmed COVID-19 or who is a symptomatic PUI should take all possible precautions to avoid spreading the virus to her infant, including washing her hands before touching the infant and wearing a face mask, if possible, while feeding at the breast.  If expressing breast milk with a manual or electric breast pump, the mother should wash her hands before touching any pump or bottle parts and follow recommendations for proper pump cleaning after each use. If possible, consider having someone who is well feed the expressed breast milk to the infant.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/pregnancy-breastfeedin...

Handwashing with Soap and Water
The purpose of routine handwashing in health care is to remove dirt and organic material, as well microbial contaminants, from the hands. Clean water must be used to prevent microorganisms in the water from contaminating the hands. However, water alone is not effective at removing substances
containing fats and oils, which are often present on soiled hands. Proper handwashing also requires soap, which is rubbed on all hand surfaces, followed by thorough rinsing and drying.
The cleansing activity of handwashing is achieved by both friction and the detergent properties of the soap. Plain soap has minimal antimicrobial properties, but assists with the mechanical removal of debris and loosely adherent microbes, while the mechanical action removes some bacteria from hands. Time is also an important factor—handwashing for 30 seconds has been shown to remove 10 times the amount of bacteria as handwashing for 15 seconds. The entire handwashing procedure, if completed properly, as described step by step in Figure 1-2, should take 40–60 seconds. (CDC 2002; WHO 2009a)

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/How_To_HandWash_Poster.pdf#overlay-context=node/319

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandWash_Poster.pdf

Alcohol-Based Handrub (ABHR)

The antimicrobial activity of alcohol results from its ability to denature proteins (i.e., the ability to dissolve some microbe components) and kill microbes. Alcohol solutions containing 60–80% alcohol are most effective, with higher concentrations being less effective. This paradox results from the fact that proteins are not denatured easily in the absence of water; as a result, microorganisms are not killed as easily with higher alcohol-based solutions (> 80% alcohol). (WHO 2009a)

The use of an ABHR is more effective in killing transient and resident flora than handwashing with antimicrobial agents or plain soap and water. It also has persistent (long-lasting) activity. ABHR is quick and convenient to use and can easily be made available at the point of care. ABHR usually contains a small amount of an emollient (e.g., glycerol, propylene glycol, or sorbitol) that protects and softens skin. ABHR should be used at any of the “5 Moments” described earlier in this chapter, unless hands are visibly soiled. (CDC 2002; Girou et al. 2002; WHO 2009a)
To be effective, approximately 3–5 mL (i.e., 1 teaspoon) of ABHR should be used. The ideal volume of ABHR to apply to the hands varies according to different formulations of the product and hand size (refer to manufacturer’s instructions for use). ABHR should be used, following the steps shown in Figure 1-3, for approximately 20–30 seconds or until the solution has fully dried. Since ABHR does not remove soil or organic matter, if hands are visibly soiled or contaminated with blood or body fluids, handwash with soap and water. To reduce the buildup of emollients on hands after repeated use of ABHR, washing hands with soap and water after every 5–10 applications of ABHR is recommended.

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/How_To_HandRub_Poster.pdf#ove...

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandRub_Poster.pdf

የኮሮናቫይረስበሽታ (ኮቪድ-19) ስርጭትንለመግታትእየተደረገያለውንሀገራዊምላሽ /National response/ ለማገዝየጤናሙያማኅበራትየተቀናጀእንቅስቃሴበማድረግላይይገኛሉ።

በአሁኑ ወቅት በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ብሎም በኢትዮጵያ አሳሳቢ እና ዋነኛ የሕብረተሰብ ጤና ስጋት የሆነውን የኮቪድ-19 በሽታወረርሽኝለመከላከል ብሎም ለመቆጣጠር በተለያዩ አካላት በተለይም በመንግስትና በሙያ ማህበራት  ዘርፈ ብዙ እንቅስቃሴ በመደረግ ላይ ይገኛል፡፡ በተለይ ሲቪል የማሕበረሰብ ድርጅቶች አካል የሆኑት የጤና ሙያ ማሕበራት ተቀናጅተው ህብረተሰቡ ለበሽታው እንዳይጋለጥ ሳይንሳዊ /scientific/ እና በመረጃ ላይ የተመሰረተ /evidence based/ በሆነ መንገድ መንግስት እየወሰደ ያለዉን የመከላከልና የመቆጣጠር እርምጃ በመርዳት ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ለአብነት ያህል ካለፈዉ ሳምንት ጀምሮ ለጤና ባለሙያዎች ስልጠና በመስጠት ላይ እንገኛለን፡፡ እንዲሁም የበሽታውን ምንነት እና መከላከያ መንገዶችን ለኅብረተሰቡ ለማድረስ ልዩ ልዩ መልዕክቶችን በማሳተም እንዲሰራጭ ተደርጓል፡፡

በተጨማሪም ቫይረሱ በሌሎች አገሮች እያደረሰ ካለው አስከፊ ቀውስ በመነሳት በጋራ እየሰራ የሚገኘዉ የሲቪል ማሕበረሰብ ድርጅቶች አካል የመከላከልና የመቆጣጠር ስራዉን በተሻለ ሁኔታ ለማቀናጀትና የተለያዩ አካላትንም ድርሻ ለመጠቆም ይህ መግለጫ ተዘጋጅቷል::

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/Press%20%20release_final_24March_2020.pdf#overlay-context=node

የኮሮና ቫይረስ በሽታ (ኮቪድ-19) ስርጭትን ለመግታት አካላዊ ርቀትን መጠበቅ ዋናው የበሽታው መከላከያ መንገድ ነው፡፡

የኮሮና ቫይረስ በሽታ (ኮቪድ-19) አስመልክቶ በየክልሉ ጥቆማ ለመስጠትና መረጃ ለማግኘት የሚከተሉትን ስልክ ቁጥሮች ይጠቀሙ፡

Parenting in the time of COVID-19

To help parents interact constructively with their children during this time of confinement, these six one-page tips for parents cover planning one-on-one time, staying positive, creating a daily routine, avoiding bad behaviour, managing stress, and talking about COVID-19. Use them to your and your kids’ advantage, and have fun in doing so. 

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tipsheet1-updated.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tip-2-covid-19-parenting.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tip-3-covid-19-parenting.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tip-4-sheet4-updated.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tip-5-covid-19-parenting.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/english-tip-6-covid-19-parenting.pdf#overlay-context=node

OR

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-f...

Governments around the world are responsible for the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for their health care professionals but are neglecting to account for midwives in their orders, sending a signal that midwives are not valued despite the essential care they provide to mothers and newborns.Midwives are frontline health workers. The coronavirus is sweeping the world, but women are still pregnant, and babies are still being born. Midwives are working in women’s homes, in community clinics, in primary birthing units, and in hospitals. Midwives are the primary caregivers for pregnant women everywhere. But if midwives are ill and dying in a health system overstretched by Covid-19 they will not be available to care for pregnant women and their families. Childbirth is a normal part of life and it does not stop because of a pandemic.

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/ICM%20ppe-statement%20%281%29.pdf#overlay-context=node

Animut Tagele Tamiru (Education Award recipient)

Description of Animut's project: 

• The project aims to launch Volunteers for Midwifery Competency Team (VMCT) as innovative educational tool for the purpose of advancing the level of midwifery educational program to the international standard. The progrma will have a tailored approach to both the students and to the Midwifery educational system to advance the competency of Midwives. This innovative, original and easily reproducible project will involve direct contact with students, using showcase as well as social media for networking to make students and the Midwifery education uptodate.

Kifle Yohannes (Education Award recipient)

Description of Kifle's project: 

• Midwives working in clinical setting are frontline and busy of many patient flows and responsibilities. Thus they have little time and exposure to conduct researches. This study will assess their research capacity and explores factors, which will help to set applicable approaches to improve their capacity and capability to conduct problem solving midwifery-led researches. Moreover the study will explore strategies to improve Midwifery Curriculum at University of Gondar and enhance the capacity of undergraduate students. 

The international devastation caused by COVID-19 has been catastrophic. As we are witnessing high income countries struggle to contain and control the pandemic, it is troubling to think of the damage it may cause to low income countries. The sweeping measures taken by the Ethiopian Government are encouraging, but similar to high income countries, Ethiopia will experience limited availability of personal protective equipment and testing kits.

Ethio-American Doctors Group (EADG) has launched a webinar series that connects Diaspora healthcare academics and specialists who are currently managing the disease burden to local healthcare professionals in Ethiopia to discuss the pandemic. We encourage you to participate in the eight scheduled upcoming live webinar sessions since April 6/2020 at 9 O’clock Ethiopian local time, which you can access from your computer or phone. The webinar sessions are intended for:

• Health Care professionals who will be in direct contact with COVID-19 patients;
• Leaders in healthcare institutions; and
• Leaders among regional health bureaus.

Schedule: http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/EADG%20COVID-19%20Webinar%20Information%20%28Schedule%2C%20Presenters%2C%20Course%20Titles%2C%20and%20Objectives%29.pdf#overlay-context=node/328

How to access the Webinar:

1. Prior to the meeting, download the Zoom application from your computer or phone.
2. You will receive an email invitation link from Zoom to join the meeting.
3. You will need to have internet access to join the meeting – preferably a strong connection.
4. As soon as you join the meeting, please mute your microphone.
5. As soon as you join the meeting, please select the audio only function, do not use video.
6. If you have a question during the meeting, please use the chat function.
7. Each webinar presentation will last 30-40 minutes, followed by a 20-minute Q&A.
8. The platform can handle up to 500 attendees, please feel free to share the link (https://zoom.us/j/525778348) with colleagues.
9. The webinar will be held over a period of eight (8) days at 3PM in the afternoon local time (Ethiopia). The first webinar will be on Friday April 3. The webinar will continue on Monday thru Friday April 6-10, and then Monday thru Wednesday April 13-15. For more information, please review the attached “EADG COVID-19 Webinar Information (Schedule, Presenters, Course Titles, and Objectives)”.

Presenter biographies are attached in the “COVID-19 Webinar Presenters” document.

The presentation material is attached as “COVID-19 Webinar Slides - EADG”.

To Join, simply click on this link: https://zoom.us/j/525778348

 Presentation and discussion will be made by Dr. Misrak Tadesse on April 13, 2020 – 3:00 p.m or 9:00 o'clock local time.
The presentation will focus on the following points:
I. COVID 19 in pregnancy and its effect on the newborn; screening and triaging of the pregnant woman in labor; confirmed or suspected COVID-19 mother and newborn
II. Management during labor and delivery
III. Recommendations for healthy neonates born to women with confirmed or suspected COVID-19
IV. Recommendations for premature or sick neonates born to women with confirmed or suspected COVID-19

የCOVID-19 ወረርሺኝን ለመግታት መጋቢት 24/2012 ዓ.ም በጤና ሚኒስቴር ድህረ- ገጽ ላይ በወጣው ማስታወቂያ የተመዘገባችሁ ባለሙያዎችን ወደ ስራ ለማሰማራት በቅድሚያ ከስራው ጋር የተያያዘ እውቀት፣ ክህሎት ብሎም አመለካከት ለማሳደግ ከዚህ በታች በተመለከተው መሰረት በonline course እንድትወሰዱ እያሳሰብን ስልጠናውን እንደጨረሳችሁ ማጠናቀቃችሁን የሚገልጽ ማረጋገጫ የምስክር ወረቀት ከሲስተሙ ፕሪንት በማድረግ እንድትወስዱ በትህትና እንጠይቃለን፡፡

ወደ covid19-IPC Online course ለመግባት በሚከተለው አድራሻ (ሊንክ) ይጠቀሙ

http://www.moh.gov.et/covid19-courses/
User Name በሚለው ቦታ በምዝገባ ወቅት የጻፋችሁትን የኢሜይል አድራሻ (email address መጻፍ
የይለፍ ቃል (Password): changeme -  ብላችሁ በመግባት ስልጠናውን መከታተል የምትችሉ መሆኑን እንግልፃለን፡፡

Instruction to online trainees
 
The COVID-19 online training packages have two major components.

• Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) module: this module has three videos and three power point files. The IPC module MUST be taken by every health professional who intend to participate in the COVID-19 response. After completion of the module, you are supposed to take multiple choice questions for which you will receive certificate online. 
• COVID-19 Clinical Management Module: this module is intended for health professionals who will be engaged in clinical management of COVID-19 cases. The module has 14 chapters and three additional materials. You are supposed to take 9 power point presentations to secure certificate of completion. (There is No Video in this course)

For More information: http://www.moh.gov.et/ejcc/am/covid19-courses

የኮሮና ቫይረስን(ኮቪድ-19) ኢንፌክሽን ለመከላከል በእርግዝና በወሊድ እና በድህረ ወሊድ ጊዜ የሚደረግ ጥንቃቄ ‼️

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/Brochure%20on%20Covid-19%20for%20pregnant%20women%20April%201%2C2020.pdf#overlay-context=node

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on World Health Day

On this World Health Day, we mark the first International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Midwives are central to everything we do at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Their life-saving skills go far beyond delivering babies; midwives educate, empower and enable women to lead healthy lives and to exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health.

Amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has already infected more than a million people worldwide, health professionals are unsung heroes working on the frontlines. Midwives risk their own lives to save those of pregnant women and newborns. They ensure safe and healthy pregnancies, taking every precaution to protect the women they serve.

Midwives play a critical role in responding to public health emergencies like COVID-19. They are essential to the strong, resilient health systems we need to survive the coronavirus. It is imperative not to jeopardize essential sexual and reproductive health services by diverting midwives to serve as emergency personnel.

Midwives who serve patients outside of hospitals are crucial to maintaining the safe distancing measures necessary to curb the spread of the disease. The more midwives who are ready to visit the homes of pregnant women in rural communities or who can offer phone-based antenatal and post-natal care, then the more people able to avoid transmitting or becoming infected by the coronavirus.

While the novel coronavirus sweeps the world, including many developing countries with fragile health systems, women continue to get pregnant and give birth. Midwives are essential to ensure safe pregnancies and births for everyone, everywhere. They also provide the information and contraceptive counselling that women and young people need, even in times of crisis.

As frontline health workers, midwives are particularly vulnerable to the virus. That means pregnant women and babies are at risk, too. We must take urgent action to protect midwives. This includes providing all midwives with the same personal protective equipment that other front-line health workers use to insulate themselves from contagion.

All over the world, midwives are stepping up to the COVID-19 challenge. With UNFPA support, midwives in hard-hit countries are working round the clock to provide care for women and babies. They say they will never abandon their patients. https://www.unfpa.org/video/born-pandemic-newborns-iran-delivered-safely-amid-covid-19-outbreak    https://www.unfpa.org/video/irans-midwives-and-nurses-front-lines-covid-19-pandemic

Together with the World Health Organization and other partners, UNFPA stands with the world's midwives, today and every day.

Life goes on despite the pandemic; pregnancy and childbirth are no exception. In this difficult time for all, and particularly for health care professionals, let's do everything in our power to protect midwives so they can continue to keep women and newborns safe.

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/UNFPA%20Protecting%20midwives%20to%20keep%20women%20and%20babies%20safe%20amid%20the%20COVID-19%20pandemic.pdf#overlay-context=node

The State of the world’s nursing 2020 report provides the latest, most up-to-date evidence on and policy options for the global nursing workforce. It also presents a compelling case for considerable – yet feasible – investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership.

Download here: http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/9789240003279-eng.pdf#overlay-context=

Maternal and child health directorate in collaboration with Safe Motherhood (SMH) Technical Working Group (TWG) members have developed a management algorithm for pregnant and labouring mothers. This algorithm will be modified accordingly to the national status of pandemic. 

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/Algoris_%20ANC_%20x.docx%20April%206%202020%20copy%20%281%29.pdf#overlay-context=node

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/Algoris%20Delivery%20managment%20algorism%20%20docx.%20April%206%202020%20copy.%20%281%29.pdf#overlay-context=node

The COVID 19 pandemic is causing huge stress on the health care system of all countries in the world.  It is observed that early interventions with optimal Political commitment and community mobilization help to flatten the curve averting occurrence of many cases and deaths.

Cognizant of the need for standardization of the response for COVID-19, the Federal Ministry of Health prepared this national guideline in an effort to contain the epidemic before it overwhelms the health care facilities. This national guideline is expected to guide policy makers and health professionals at all level. A standardized approaches to will assist effective and efficient utilization of the limited resource of the country, minimizes dilemma and confusion on case  management. 

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/COVID%2019%20Handbook%20for%20health%20professionals%20FMOH%202020.pdf#overlay-context=node/334

Recognition for student midwives

A further rationale for The COVID-19 Cohorts blog series is to raise the profile of the hard work and challenges being faced by student midwives during the pandemic. Concerns have been raised about the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for midwives and students.⁴ Furthermore, because of the current state of emergency and the subsequent cascade of rapidly changing events, there have been understandable delays in information provision about what midwifery education will look like in the upcoming months, so healthcare students have experienced anxiety surrounding the future of their course.

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/all4maternity.com-The%20COVID-19%20Cohorts%20real-life%20accounts%20of%20being%20a%20student%20midwife%20during%20the%20COVID-19%20pandemic.pdf#overlay-context=node