Friday, 9 May 2025
No Result
View All Result
eudebates.tv
  • EU Policies
  • World
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls
eudebates.tv
No Result
View All Result

Health: Keep mothers and newborns together

EUdebates Team by EUdebates Team
16/04/2021
in Health
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
small-baby mother newborn
129
SHARES
1.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

Join EU debates

EU should debate mandatory vaccination, says Von der Leyen.

WHO: 115k health and care professionals died from pandemic

Vaccinated Europeans now outnumber those infected by COVID

Made in China vaccine gets WHO global approval for emergency use

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the risks of separating newborns from mothers with a new research. WHO found that up to 125,000 lives could be saved by keeping them together to ensure skin-to-skin contact. In many countries, if COVID-19 infections are confirmed or suspected, newborn babies are being routinely separated from their mothers, putting them at higher risk of death and lifelong health complications, according to the agency. 

“Disruptions to essential health services during COVID-19 have severely affected the quality of care provided to some of the most vulnerable babies, and this includes their right to the lifesaving contact they need with their parents”, Anshu Banerjee, WHO Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, said.  

According to WHO, the risk is greatest in the poorest countries where the greatest number of preterm births and infant deaths occur, and disruptions to kangaroo mother care – early, prolonged skin-to-skin contact with a parent, and exclusive breastfeeding – will worsen these risks. “Decades of progress in reducing child deaths will be jeopardized unless we act now to protect and improve quality care services for mothers and newborns, and expand coverage of lifesaving interventions like kangaroo mother care”, Dr. Banerjee added. The new research, by WHO and partners, was published in the Lancet EclinicalMedicine.

small-baby mother newborn

Kangaroo mother care 

WHO said that up to 125,000 babies’ lives could be saved with full coverage of kangaroo mother care. The model of care is particularly important for babies born preterm (before 37 weeks) or at low birthweight (under 2.5 kilogrammes), where it has shown to reduce infant deaths by as much as 40 per cent, hypothermia by more than 70 per cent, and severe infections by 65 per cent. Queen Dube, Director of Health at the Ministry of Health in Malawi, one of the report authors, underscored the benefits. 

WHO calls to ramp up COVAX production of COVID-19 vaccines

Yemen EU-supported mobile UNICEF health team

“Kangaroo Mother Care is one of our most cost-effective ways to protect small and sick newborns. According to our analysis, these risks by far outweigh the small chance of a newborn baby getting severe disease from COVID-19”, Dr. Dube said. WHO advised that mothers should continue to share a room with their babies from birth and be able to breastfeed and practice skin-to-skin contact – even when COVID-19 infections are suspected or confirmed – and should be supported to ensure appropriate infection prevention practices. 

Low COVID risk

It also noted that studies showed mainly no symptoms or mild disease from COVID-19 in infected newborns, with low risk of neonatal death, with the new study estimating the risk of newborns catching COVID-19 would result in fewer than 2,000 deaths. 

World Health Organization (WHO)

However, infection during pregnancy may result in increased risk of preterm birth, which means it is even more important to ensure the right care is given to support preterm babies and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO added. 

Maternal and newborn health

Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, whereas perinatal health refers to health from 22 completed weeks of gestation until 7 completed days after birth. Newborn health is the babies’ first month of life. A healthy start during the perinatal period influences infancy, childhood and adulthood.

Maternal, perinatal and newborn health matters to every person, society and country, and should be viewed from both a human rights and wellbeing perspective as highly important topics.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of goals set out in 2015 in order to achieve a new sustainable development agenda for the world by 2030. Out of the 17 development goals, number 3 is the goal directly linked to health. Within goal number 3, target 3.1 aims to decrease the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100 000 live births by 2030.

Postpartum care

Monitoring maternal and newborn health during the postpartum period is critical. The risk of death is highest for newborn babies: 75% of all neonatal deaths occur during the first week of life. Timely detection and management of symptoms have been shown to reduce mortality and complications.

Breastfeeding is optimal for both maternal and child health, and crucial for a healthy start in life. Exclusive breastfeeding for six months provides just the nutrients that newborn babies need and promotes bonding with their mothers. For women, the benefits include a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer, and a quicker return to pre-pregnancy weight than with formula feeding.

Women who remain healthy during pregnancy and after birth are more likely to stay healthy later in life. The continuum of newborn, infant, child, adolescent, reproductive, maternal and perinatal health is part of a woman’s life-course. All these stages are interrelated

eudebates newborns

Share this debate with your friends!
Follow #eudebates on Google News and on Facebook
Tags: COVIDCOVID19European Climate and Health ObservatoryHuman HealthPublic HealthTerrorterrorismterrorist attackterrorist attackm Far RightWHO
Share52Tweet32

Related EU debates

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission on the mandatory vaccination
Health

EU should debate mandatory vaccination, says Von der Leyen.

01/12/2021
Doctors mask virus health
Health

WHO: 115k health and care professionals died from pandemic

25/05/2021
A medical worker getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in Bulgaria
Health

Vaccinated Europeans now outnumber those infected by COVID

14/05/2021
Illustration picture of a vaccines - vaccine
Health

Made in China vaccine gets WHO global approval for emergency use

13/05/2021
Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
Health

World Health Day: Stella Kyriakides EU debates Health Union

06/04/2021
India donates 200,000 vaccines to protect UN blue helmets against COVID
Health

India donates 200,000 vaccine doses to UN blue helmets peacekeepers

29/03/2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SOTEU 2022 - State of the Union speech

Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU

14/09/2022
Volunteers preparing food for Ukrainian refugees arriving at Berlin Central Station

EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine

08/03/2022
pump jack oil diesel

REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel

08/03/2022
Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission

EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine

26/02/2022
Finnish PM Sanna Marin

Finland: NATO membership ‘will change’ after Russian invasion

24/02/2022
NATO - EU joint Press Conference

EU responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with massive sanctions

24/02/2022
  • Social Media Facebook twitter

    DeleteFacebook? What is the best Facebook european alternative?

    268 shares
    Share 107 Tweet 67
  • Travelling in Europe with COVID19 country colour travel code zones

    238 shares
    Share 95 Tweet 60
  • Why don’t Mediterranean boat migrants take the plane? Why don’t refugees fly?

    222 shares
    Share 89 Tweet 56
  • EU nasty and vindictive? Nigel Farage criticizes EU vaccines strategy

    202 shares
    Share 81 Tweet 51
  • Burkini Debate: To Ban or Not to Ban the Burkini, Burka and Niqab in EUROPE?

    193 shares
    Share 77 Tweet 48

Join eudebates newsletter!

Enter your email to receive our newsletter.

Don't worry, we don't spam
eudebates_logo

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU
  • EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine
  • REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel
  • EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine
  • Finland: NATO membership ‘will change’ after Russian invasion

Newsletter

Join eudebates newsletter!

Enter your email to receive our newsletter.

Don't worry, we don't spam
SOTEU 2022 - State of the Union speech

Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU

14/09/2022
Volunteers preparing food for Ukrainian refugees arriving at Berlin Central Station

EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine

08/03/2022
pump jack oil diesel

REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel

08/03/2022
  • Home
  • EU Policies
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls
  • Video

© 2022 eudebates - EU debates, dialogue, communication for a better Europe - Privacy Policy.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • EU Policies
  • World
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls

© 2022 eudebates - EU debates, dialogue, communication for a better Europe - Privacy Policy.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.