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ADDIS ABABA – COVID-19 travel restrictions in Ethiopia are forcing pregnant women to give birth at home, health workers say.
For Kenasa Kumera, receiving panicked phone calls from women who go into labor has become an everyday occurrence.
Since Ethiopia implemented strict travel bans last month to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Marie Stopes International maternity center it runs in Adama, about 100 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa, has received as many as 10 calls a day from women they cannot come to her center to give birth.
The trend, he said, is particularly troubling in poor areas without ambulances and where traveling even over small distances can be difficult.
“This morning, a client called to request an ambulance. She had two caesarean sections before and was designated for another c-section,” Kenesa told VOA through a messaging app. “She has been suffering due to transportation shortages and requested an ambulance. I immediately sent her one. She is now admitted and the third C-section is being conducted safely.”
Kenasa said she was concerned that many other women have been unable to arrange transportation, so they are forced to give birth at home where medical emergencies cannot be treated.
“There could definitely be complications as there are no adequate means of transportation and health services in the cities,” he said. “Complications will certainly occur.”
Parliament approved a nationwide state of emergency on Friday, giving authorities broad powers to prevent movement of people. Schools, bars, cultural restaurants, hairdressers and gyms were already closed.
On March 23, the government issued orders to public carriers to stop the overcrowding. The Oromia, Amhara, Harari and Tigray regions have banned or restricted public transportation to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Ethiopia has registered 65 cases.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health did not respond to questions about access to health services for pregnant women.
Risha Hess, director of Marie Stopes in Ethiopia, told VOA via a messaging app that people across the country were no longer able to access health services for delivery or postnatal care.
“We can pick people up and take them to hospitals and so far that’s what we’ve done,” said Hess. “If you continue, who knows, we only have one ambulance in each hospital. There are probably people we cannot get to quickly enough or because we don’t have the capacity. I can only imagine what is happening with all the other birthing centers in the country “.
There is a shortage of sexual and reproductive health products from India because the factories there have closed and the borders are closed. This, he said, could lead to “years of problems and delays” due to the closure of borders worldwide.
