Kybele board member
David Goodman, MD, OB/GYN
at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, FL and Director of Global Health Scholars Program, recently shared this reflection on COVID-19 and infant mortality.
“There is an ambient anxiety that COVID-19 has brought into our society. I was processing my fears recently while driving home after giving a global health lecture and the reality dawned on me: 'This is a taste of the fear that families all over the world feel all the time.'
Globally, the stillbirth rate is 18.4 per 1000 births. The 10 countries with the most dire rates experience stillbirths in the range of 32-43 per 1,000 births.
(1)
Simply trying to be born carries a global fatality rate around 2%, which is roughly the same as COVID-19. Let that sink in.
Every day 830 women and 7,300 newborns die. In addition, over 7,000 women experience stillbirths, half of which occur after labor has begun.
(2)
The pandemonium this virus has created, the calls to action, the mobilizing of funds are necessary and important, but it leaves us asking, 'When will societies consider women, babies, and families as this important?'"
Certainly we do not downplay the impact of COVID-19. In fact we continue to work diligently to minimize that impact, to support our hospital partners and reduce the spread.
But David offers great perspective. The Coronavirus pandemic has upended the entire globe. While many things may never be as they were, compassion and care for others remains intact
. In these hard and frightful days, let us not forget the perpetual threat to women and babies that extends beyond COVID-19.
As you reflect on your own experience
—
whether it is caring for patients, recovering from the virus, or sheltering in place
—
it is our hope this will help you build solidarity for the burdens borne all over the world.
