“I’ve been pretty calm throughout the pregnancy, but now I’m a bit anxious and thinking things like, ‘What if I go into labor and there aren’t enough staff?’ What if something goes wrong?” he said.
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“I’m the type of person who inherently trusts our hospital system to be able to provide for me if I need it and I have so much empathy for the healthcare workers who are dealing with it.
“But I also know rationally that they are experiencing severe staff shortages as a result of the pressures associated with COVID, so the anxiety that something will go wrong is in the back of my mind.”
Women who were infected with the latest subvariant of Omicron generally did not require hospitalization from the virus and appeared to have milder symptoms, Khot said.
“Although there has been an increase in the number of cases, the cases have been relatively mild. Vaccination rates are quite high, which is also helping.”
Stefan Kane, medical director of maternity services at the Royal Women’s Hospital and obstetrician subspecialist in maternal-fetal medicine, said the silver lining to the latest wave of Omicron was that infected pregnant women had at least three vaccinations and were less likely to develop the disease critic.
Medical director of maternity services at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Stefan Kane, said the silver lining to the latest wave of Omicron was that pregnant women infected with coronavirus were largely vaccinated for three and far less likely to become seriously ill. Credit: Chris Hopkins
Last year’s Delta outbreak led to a surge in unvaccinated pregnant women and new mothers admitted to intensive care, seriously ill with the coronavirus.
“Unlike previous waves of the pandemic, we’re not seeing as many women very badly and I think that’s a combination of both the impact of the vaccination and possibly the different ways that the new variants are affecting people.” , Kane said.
But with more than 10,000 new coronavirus infections reported every day in Victoria and thousands more going undetected, staff shortages mean nurses and midwives are often working double shifts, overtime and taking days off.
“It’s very important to recognize how hard they are working in very, very difficult circumstances and how dedicated they are to caring for pregnant women,” Kane said.
John Regan, vice-president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who is also head of obstetrics at Monash Medical Center in Clayton, said the ward was facing a shortage of staff, estimating it was usually d 20 percent. .
There are three rooms at Monash designated for COVID-19. The hospital has also become a priority site for COVID-positive mothers who are suffering from acute respiratory problems and need intensive care.
A lack of available midwives and doctors meant that planned C-sections or labor inductions were being rescheduled by up to four times and in some cases by up to three days, Khot said.
Often, births are induced when mothers have blood pressure problems, gestational diabetes, or are past their due date.
“If you delay a scheduled C-section, a woman could go into labor and you have to do the C-section in the middle of the night with less staff because you have no other option,” Khot said.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick. Credit: Luis Ascui
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick warned recommended midwife-to-patient ratios in postnatal care wards were still only being met about 60% of the time.
Fitzpatrick said midwives were repeatedly working double shifts as hospitals struggled to fill gaps, mainly due to respiratory illnesses. Hospitals also relied heavily on final year student midwives or registered nurses completing their postgraduate midwifery studies.
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“They are [maternity hospitals and midwives] desperately trying to make sure they don’t adjust any kind of rules for the visitors,” Fitzpatrick said.
“But that comes with a lot of extra work for nurses and midwives.”
All visitors to the hospital must be fully vaccinated or show evidence of a negative result from a rapid antigen test done on the day of the visit.
A Victorian Government spokeswoman said: “Despite global midwifery shortages, staff absences due to COVID or flu and record demand on our health system, our midwives and nurses continue to deliver the best possible care to the community.” .
“We are investing almost $10 million to support, train and place grade midwives in our hospitals who provide much-needed support on the ground,” she said. The government was also increasing midwifery and nursing capacity, he said.
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