Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies, News article
Author: Lakshmi, R. The Washington Post.
Year: 2006
Resource type: News
Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies
By Rama Lakshmi
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, August 17, 2006; Page A09
In the days after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, about 125 critically ill newborn babies and 154 pregnant women were evacuated to Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge. Some of the fragile newborns arrived without their mothers, and some of the women were already in labor. It was at least 10 days before some of the infants and mothers were reunited. Katrina focused unprecedented attention on pregnant women and newborns as an acutely vulnerable population during emergencies. A year later, those concerns are driving a push to add provisions for both groups to national preparedness guidelines for disasters, epidemics or terrorist attacks. No accurate data are available on the number of babies born during the Katrina crisis, but officials at both hospitals in Baton Rouge described vivid scenes of distraught pregnant women arriving with no records, of desperate mothers searching for their babies and of women who delivered on their way to the facility. Heidi Wigley, 26, was three months pregnant when the storm struck. She lost her home, including her medications, in St. Bernard Parish, and her doctor was evacuated to Florida. "I was evacuated to another town and could not contact my doctor, who had all the information about my pregnancy," Wigley said in a telephone interview from Mandeville, La., where she now lives. "I was worried I may miscarry. The relief teams did not have any gynecologist and no prenatal vitamins. I told them I wanted more food and more money because I was pregnant, and they said no." Two months later, Wigley developed high blood pressure, a common complication of pregnancy, and delivered prematurely in February. At 5 1/2 months, her son is now healthy.
"Pregnant women face greater risks -- like premature births, low-birth-weight babies and infant deaths -- during the stressful conditions of a disaster. This can make delivering a child difficult and potentially life-threatening," said Theresa Shaver, executive director of the District-based White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. "International relief agencies have detailed guidelines for helping pregnant women, infants and new mothers in disasters around the world," she said. "But in the United States, it is not yet integral to our preparedness plans." The alliance has set up a working group to develop domestic guidelines in association with groups of pediatricians, gynecologists, obstetricians, nurses and midwives. Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of County and City Health Officials are also taking part. Shaver noted that in the past few years, health-care providers and officials have worked on disaster preparedness plans focusing on other vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, heart patients, those on dialysis and disabled people. These efforts were accelerated in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks later that year, and concerns about bioterrorism and pandemic flu. But several public health advocates said it was not until Katrina exposed the lack of provisions for pregnant women and new mothers and their babies that those groups were included on the preparedness agenda. "Pregnant women and newborns are just entering the radar, and that is a post-Katrina development," said Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. National organizations cite the public health departments of South Carolina and Fort Worth, Tex., for being among the first to incorporate maternal and child-care needs into their preparedness plans. The White Ribbon Alliance working group hopes to release by the end of August proposals to address the needs of newborn babies in disasters and present those recommendations at emergency planning meetings across the country. It is also exploring the option of introducing federal legislation. The proposed guidelines, called the Women and Infants Service Package (WISP), advocate training first responders in the special needs of pregnant and new mothers and babies, preparing birth-complication readiness packages, keeping mothers and infants together during evacuations, and setting up dedicated toll-free numbers that pregnant women can call for assistance. The guidelines also recommend that emergency teams include certified midwives and have supplies of baby formula, bottles, diapers, vaccines, and folate and iron supplements. The alliance believes that disaster situations call for a shift in the thinking of American women, who generally expect to give birth in a hospital or clinical setting. In the early phase of a disaster, officials said, births will often take place outside a health facility and without the assistance of trained health personnel. "We will be in situations where there are no health-care facilities. In fact, if there is a pandemic flu, a hospital is not where you take a pregnant woman or an infant to," said Robbie Prepas, a certified midwife who heads disaster preparedness at the American College of Nurse-Midwives. During Katrina, Prepas helped many pregnant women with deliveries in airports and ambulances. "We will have to retrain care providers to be comfortable with assisting deliveries outside hospitals," she said.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Download
washingtonpostartlicle-gp-urges-disaster-planning-for-pregnant-women-babaies-aug-2006.pdf (PDF, 20kb)
More like this
Resource: Helping moms, babies when disaster strikes, news article relating to Hurricane Katrina
www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.mothers14may14,0,3362192.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines From the Baltimore Sun Helping moms, babies when disaster strikes By...
Resource: National Working Group for Women and Infant Needs in Emergencies in the United States
www.whiteribbonalliance.org/Resources/Documents/WISP.Final.07.27.07.pdf Executive summary of report: The mass chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for U.S....
Resource: Breakdowns marked path from hurricane to anarchy
Aritlce on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, USA, in the New York Times 11 Sept 2005, Lipton E, Drew C, Shane S, Rohde D. 'Before the last people were...
NEX: Strengthening postnatal care in Gaza: A home-visiting programme for mothers and newborns
Lisez cet article en français ici View this article as a pdf Amani Jouda is the Early Childhood and Development Officer in the UNICEF Gaza field office. Selena...
Resource: Wet Nursing - Rescue efforts of a hero
Two media stories of same woman: www.int.iol.co.za:80/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080518144535630C499002 Rescue efforts of a hero... May 18 2008 at...
Resource: Formula milk 'dangerous' as humanitarian aid, Indonesia, news article
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/07/formula-milk-039dangerous039-humanitarian-aid.html Formula milk 'dangerous' as humanitarian aid *Prodita Sabarini*, The Jakarta...
FEX: Contributing to the Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) response in the Philippines: a local NGO perspective
By Romelei Camiling-Alfonso, Donna Isabel S. Capili, Katherine Ann V. Reyes, A.M. Francesca Tatad and Maria Asuncion Silvestre Romelei Camiling-Alfonso has worked for the...
Resource: Infant feeding in disasters - A call for awareness (WBW)
www.apha.org/membergroups/newsletters/sectionnewsletters/matern/spring08/infantfeedisaster.htm Title: INFANT FEEDING IN DISASTERS: A CALL FOR AWARENESS Author: Section/SPIG:...
en-net: Safe alternatives to breast milk in rural sub-Saharan Africa that are not formula milk?
In South Sudan, many women report not being able to breastfeed. Whilst in some cases this is about traditional beliefs and practices around infant feeding, maternal nutrition...
FEX: Putting IFE guidance into practice: operational challenges in Myanmar
By Victoria Sibson Victoria Sibson has been the emergency nutrition adviser for Save the Children UK since April 2007, with a focus on treatment of acute malnutrition and...
Resource: Women & Infants Service Package (WISP): Planning for Emergencies
www.whiteribbonalliance.org/images/upload/APHApresentation.ppt#256,1 Women & Infants Service Package (WISP): Planning for Emergencies Lisa Summers, CNM, DrPH, from ACNM gave...
Collective Statement of Support for multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS)
We've joined global experts & practitioners calling for urgent scale-up of MMS ensuring mothers receive more effective prenatal care & in turn babies have the best chance...
FEX: Increased diarrhoea following infant formula distribution in 2006 earthquake response in Indonesia: evidence and actions
By Fitsum Assefa, Sri Sukotjo (Ninik), Anna Winoto and David Hipgrave Fitsum Assefa is a nutritionist with over 15 years experience working on public nutrition in various...
FEX: NGOnut discussion summaries - cassava poisoning, and HIV and breastfeeding
The following are edited summaries of e-mail correspondence from the NGO Nutrition Association (NGO Nut) which may be of interest to readers. The NGO Nut was recently set up...
FEX: Breastfeeding Support Groups in Tajikistan
Uma Palaniappan and Zinaida Abdullaeva Uma Palaniappan & Zinaida Abdullaeva Uma Palaniappan is the Nutrition Programme Manager of Action Against Hunger in Kurgan Tyube in...
FEX: Mental health in Afghanistan
Summary of published letter Following the events of September 11th all international aid workers of both local and INGO's were evacuated from Afghanistan. As a result, the task...
FEX: Using flow charts and health systems strengthening to improve antenatal nutrition services in India
Vani Sethi is a Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF Regional Office of South Asia. Archana Mishra is a Deputy Director at the Maternal Health Division, Government of Madhya...
en-net: IYCF Counselling... Is it for post-natal care women only?
Hello Team, We have health and nutrition mobile teams delivering health (IMCI,ANC/PNC,Immunization), and nutrition (OTP) services. IYCF counselling is one of these services....
FEX: Food for thought: Supplementary feeding programme or ‘antenatal feeding programme’ for pregnant women
By Michael H Golden Michael Golden is Emeritus Professor at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. An independent physician and researcher, he has over 40 years of experience...
FEX: Breastfeeding support in the refugee camps of North Western Tanzania
By Lucas Kulwa Machibya Lucas Machibya has been working for UNHCR since June 1994 in the north-western Tanzania refugee operation as National Public Health Nutrition Officer....
Reference this page
Lakshmi, R. The Washington Post. (2006). Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies, News article. www.ennonline.net/disasterplanningwomenandbabies
(ENN_642)