Dr Sujata Datta, Consultant Obstetrician, and Gynecologist, Fortis Hospital talks about the impact of COVID-19 on women’s health
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated lives worldwide, with more than 4 million deaths and still counting. Besides the high fatality rate around the globe, the pandemic has exposed sharp economic and social inequalities while at the same time widening the already existing gap with the most vulnerable in society, including women. This is especially true for women who were pregnant during the pandemic era. Pregnant women were more at risk of getting severe illnesses and often needed intensive care and ventilatory support if affected with COVID-19. Still, their access to routine antenatal care was severely hampered.
Besides the pandemic, lockdowns that were enforced to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19 meant that public transport was limited. In addition, GP surgeries and doctors’ clinics were shut, and hospitals were only catering to emergencies, with all elective surgeries cancelled, resulting in reduced access to care for pregnant women. Whilst this made room for COVID-19 affected patients, it also impacted women’s access to routine ultrasounds to check fetal growth and antenatal check-ups that help detect pregnancy complications such as diabetes and high blood pressure. As a result, problems that otherwise, would have been routinely picked up early and dealt with went undetected, which increased the number of stillbirths in infants.
Not just pregnant women, but women, in general, facing gynecological problems such as ovarian cysts and heavy menstrual bleeding chose not to go to the hospital for fear of contracting COVID-19. As a result, they suffered severe life-threatening complications such as ruptured ovarian cysts, severe anaemia from excessive bleeding and ruptured ectopic pregnancies. Also, several women on chemotherapy cycles or maintenance dialysis found transportation and medical care difficult to access.
As research and epidemiological evidence gave us more information on treating and preventing illness from COVID-19, the medical fraternity was able to put this knowledge into practice. The use of N95 masks, personal protective equipment, access to rapid COVID-19 testing, and isolation greatly limited the spread of infection. It stopped the hospitals from being overwhelmed, except at the peak of the consecutive waves. The advent of vaccination and mutations, making the virus less virulent over the last two years, slowly changed the situation, though not before it created havoc in the elderly and comorbid population, causing almost 60 lakh deaths worldwide.
After developing the vaccine and following vaccination of the elderly and frontline workers, hospitals were able to resume regular services stepwise and systematically. Currently, restrictions have slowly been lifted, and routine testing before admission or surgery is being phased out, with continued emphasis given for vaccination and the universal use of masks. The COVID-19 admissions to the hospitals have decreased, and all routine services from clinics to pathology and surgery have restarted, which is slowly enabling everyone to return to the normalcy of the pre-COVID era.
In conclusion, it has been found that women generally skipped health care services due to the pandemic, which worsened their condition. The expansion of telemedicine and virtual healthcare platforms has played a vital role in filling the gap, but their reach is limited, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. That is why policies that promote women’s health and provide them access to these facilities are crucial so that women can access these facilities, even during a pandemic and beyond.
- Advertisement -