Emerging statistics on the epidemiology of COVID-19: Making prevention in pregnancy less grievous than the disease

Background:Pregnant women are a vulnerable group to the COVID-19 infection; although it is expected that adaptive changes of pregnancy put them at increased risk of adverse outcome from any respiratory tract infection, interventions for the COVID-19 may put them in more danger. Nigeria is one of the leading countries with very poor maternal mortality indices and many other sub-Saharan African nations are in the same boat. Contingency plans need to beput in place to prevent precipitous deterioration in mortality rates occasioned by the dreaded SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. This mini-review of literature and WHO global statistics is aimed to determine the trends in COVID-19 transmission and mortality rates to provide evidence-based information that may enable governments to tailor their interventions to the peculiar needs, of sub-Saharan African populations.Main body:Emerging epidemiological trends on transmission and mortality within Africa and the worst affected regions of the world suggests better outcomes of this infection in sub-Saharan Africa, than in other regions of the world. Also, present data allude to similar outcomes between pregnant and non-pregnant women. The present containment measures of isolation and quarantine, including city-wide lockdowns, may put pregnant women at higher risk of death from other causes rather than COVID-19. The danger posed, is the limitation of access to emergency obstetric care services when pregnant women develop non-COVID-19 complications of pregnancy.Conclusion:The COVID-19 pandemic has lower local transmission rates and fatality in Africa, the region where the virus arrived last. While special efforts should be geared at shielding the elderly and infirm from contracting the infection, preventive measures in pregnant women must allow for access to emergency obstetric care to forestall iatrogenic adverse maternal outcomes

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: A five-year review in Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria

Objective: To determine the prevalence and outcome of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy in Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State Nigeria Method: This was a retrospective descriptive study of all documented cases of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy between the 1st of June 2012 and 31st May, 2017. Information such as age, parity, booking status, level of education, blood pressure at presentation, urinalysis at presentation, gestational age at presentation, and delivery, mode of delivery, baby's birth weight was extracted from patients' case files. Result: There were 1,118 deliveries during the study period out of which 55 (4.9%) patients had hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. The mean age was 31.5years ±48.1 and mean parity, 1.2± 1.1. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 180.4 ± 1.88mmHg and 105.1± 1.5mmHg, respectively. Thirty-four (75.5%) of the women had preeclampsia/ eclampsia, while 7 (15.5%) had gestational hypertension. Most women were delivered preterm (22 patients, 48.7%). The majority of them (33, 73.3%) were delivered by cesarean section, out of which 2 (4.4%) were elective cesarean section and 31 patients (68.8%) were emergency cesarean section. The case fatality rate was 1.8%. Conclusion: Pre-eclampsia was the most prevalent t hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. It was more prevalent among primigravidae patients and the most common complication was preterm delivery. Strengthening antenatal care services will enable early identification of cases. Prompt referral of cases for specialist care will help in reducing the adverse outcomes associated with the condition.