CHIBA -- A COVID-19 patient in her 30s who lost her child after she gave birth at home was refused admittance by nine medical institutions, according to the Chiba prefectural government.
The woman in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, was 29 weeks pregnant and was confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus on Aug. 11. She had been recuperating at home alone, but on the morning of Aug. 17, she reported abdominal pain and bleeding.
The public health center, the prefectural government and the woman's doctor contacted nine places, including the perinatal medical center for mothers and babies, to request that she be hospitalized, but she was not admitted anywhere.
The woman went into premature labor that evening at home, but the child was confirmed dead at a hospital where he was later taken.
In response to this case, the prefectural government has asked medical institutions to strengthen their readiness to accept pregnant and nursing COVID-19 patients. The prefectural government also requested that obstetricians examine pregnant women and nursing mothers in person whenever possible.
Meanwhile, Chiba University Hospital in Chiba City will add more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients who are pregnant or nursing to its Maternal Fetal Intensive Care Unit (MFICU). The hospital has already allocated one of its six beds in the MFICU for COVID-19 patients and plans to increase the number of personnel.
"We are trying to figure out how to prioritize hospitalizations for pregnant women and other patients," a prefectural government official said. "We're almost at our limit."
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