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THE global COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the delivery of sexual reproductive health services and has rolled back several years of progress in improving maternal health.
Zimbabwe is still among countries with high maternal mortality rate and research has proved that delays and even lack of access to proper healthcare is a major catalyst to the high mortality rate.
“The pandemic has seen critical resources diverted to containing the virus at the expense of sexual reproductive health services,” Fungisayi Dube of the Citizens Health Watch said.
“Maternal deaths, infant mortality rates, still births and unsafe home deliveries were on the rise with women failing to access contraception and maternal health care services.”
Critical maternal health services, like antenatal care (ANC) were hugely disrupted with indications that visits declined by 45% in 2020 (April-July) compared to the same period last year.
ANC is a means to identify high-risk pregnancies and educate women so that they experience healthier pregnancies. NewsDay
