Specificities, Priorities and Challenges for the Role of the Midwifes, in the Context of a COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The rapidly expanding SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic has caused drastic global changes, illness and deaths. Health teams have faced the urgency and control of contagion with new demands.

This work aims to communicate elements of reflection to identify specificities, priorities and challenges to the professional role in the protection of women’s health in the reproductive process and of perinatal health, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific publications related to COVID-19 were reviewed on the following topics: epidemiological aspects, obstetric and perinatal risks, implications for the midwifery, questions to be investigated and probable future scenarios.

COVID-19 is related with high maternal and perinatal risk (maternal morbidity, caesarean section and premature delivery), there is mother-to-child transmission by proximity, but breastfeeding is advisable. In the context of a pandemic, clinical care is more complex and more distant by protocol. Midwives can lead a highly humanized model of care for women and families from the beginning of the reproductive process. Specifically, at the primary level they must prioritize prevention, detect and investigate risk. At the hospital level, the protection of the well-being of the mother and the newborn in its broadest concept is a priority.