Expectant mothers are facing repeated delays to planned caesareans and birth inductions as oversubscribed maternity wards battle diminishing staffing levels and a surge in COVID-positive women giving birth. | TimnaJacks and MeljCunningham
Obstetrician Nisha Khot, who works at two major Melbourne hospitals, says the whole system has been under strain during the pandemic, but demand in maternity wards has ramped up again in recent months.Khot estimates there has been a 20 to 25 per cent increase in the number of expectant mothers testing positive for COVID-19 when they arrive at hospitals to give birth.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Chorazy said she would have been most worried about being infected with coronavirus. Now, she is triple vaccinated, but concerned about hospital staffing shortages.“I have been quite calm throughout the pregnancy, but now am a little bit anxious and thinking things like ‘what if I go into labour, and there’s not enough staff? What if something goes wrong?’” she said.
Medical director maternity services at the Royal Women’s Hospital Stefan Kane said the silver lining in the latest Omicron wave was pregnant women infected with coronavirus were largely triple vaccinated and far less inclined to become critically ill.Last year’s Delta outbreak caused a surge in unvaccinated pregnant women and new mothers being admitted to intensive care, critically ill with coronavirus.
John Regan, the vice president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who is also the head of obstetrics at Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, said the ward was facing crippling staff shortages, estimating it was typically about 20 per cent.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Surge in COVID cases among children sparked school mask pleaTerm 3 has brought a steep rise in the number of Victorian students catching COVID-19, but some principals are sceptical of the new mask advice, predicting it will have limited impact without a mandate. masks covid19
Read more »
Anthony Albanese stops short of calling for Australians to work from home amid Covid surgePrime minister says people should stay home if they’re sick but said there was no prescriptive position on working from home
Read more »
As Victorians face another COVID-19 surge, mortality data shows how vaccinations are saving livesMortality data provided to the ABC by Victoria's health department show the deaths of unvaccinated people, and the elderly, loom large among the 2,171 COVID-19-related fatalities recorded in the first half of this year.
Read more »
Queensland doctors call for return of vaccination hubs amid COVID surgeRegional Queensland doctors are calling for the return of mass vaccination hubs across the state, to blunt the impact of rising COVID-19 numbers.
Read more »
Take it from my kid – we can all be superheroes in the COVID battleRiding out this third COVID-19 wave is in our own hands. We can choose to be superheroes, or we can be left at the mercy of the villain.
Read more »
Underutilised, double-dipped, vague: Lessons from Qld’s COVID measuresAn audit of the state’s $17.2 billion pandemic response and recovery programs has found mixed results, unclear outcomes and lacklustre monitoring.
Read more »