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Birth Defects
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Key Findings > Health Concerns of
Pregnant Women and Infants in Times of Natural Disasters |
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Health Concerns of Pregnant Women and
Infants in Times of Natural Disasters
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Pregnant women and infants have special health needs in the
aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricanes. An estimated
56,000 pregnant women and 75,000 infants were directly affected by
Hurricane Katrina.
This report uses Hurricane Katrina as an example to show the
needs of pregnant women and infants during times of natural
disasters. It offers ideas to help disaster response planners better
meet the needs of pregnant women.
After a disaster, safe food and clean water for drinking and
bathing might not be available. People might be exposed to toxins in
the environment, and they might need to stay in crowded shelters
where health care and public health services might be hard to find.
All of these conditions can result in risks for pregnant women and
infants.
The following actions can help disaster response planners better
meet the health needs of pregnant women and infants:
- When a woman checks into a shelter or medical facility, she
should be asked if she might be pregnant. If a woman thinks she
might be or doesn’t know if she could be pregnant, a urine
pregnancy test should be done. Pregnant women should be referred
for prenatal care right away.
- Health care providers who usually don’t treat pregnant women
should be taught how to assess their needs and assign proper
care.
- Contraception should be made available to women who have
been evacuated to aid them in avoiding unplanned pregnancies.
- Mothers who are breastfeeding should be encouraged to
continue doing so.
- Women and their health care providers should be informed how
exposures related to the disaster could affect a pregnancy.
Exposures might include vaccinations (shots) and medications
used in the public health response.
- If possible, a pregnancy registry should be set up early
during the event to track outcomes for pregnant women.
- Medical teams and other response teams should be trained to
manage the care of pregnant and breastfeeding women and their
infants.
When a disaster like a hurricane is coming, pregnant women and
women with infants can take steps to get ready. If there is enough
warning, they should get copies of their medical records, make sure
they have extra supplies of necessary medications, and have a supply
of ready-to-feed formula if breastfeeding is not an option.
Callaghan WM, Rasmussen SA, Farr S, Jamieson D, Sutton PD, Mathews
TJ, et al. Health concerns of women and infants in times of natural
disasters: lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Matern Child
Health J. 2007;11(4):307–11.
Date:
January 14, 2008
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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