The preventable trauma of childbirth during a pandemic

Governments and donors must allocate far more resources for advocacy in problematic areas such as maternal health.

‘The baby is dead. We can’t assist you here’. By the time she heard these devastating words, the pregnant Yasmelis Casanova had endured a long and painful journey, passing through multiple Covid-19 checkpoints, to the hospital in Caracas, Venezuela. She bled for hours without treatment. When doctors at a second hospital finally operated on her, they removed her ovaries without her prior consent. Then, she spent 20 days there almost entirely alone; due to Covid-19 restrictions, visits were banned.