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Senior Midwifery Officer (PMO) at the Office of Representatives and Child Health (RCH) at Upper East Regional Hospital, Bolgatanga, Beatrice Akefo, called on pregnant women to avoid contracting malaria.
She stressed that “malaria is one of the deadly diseases”, and urged pregnant women not to forgo the use of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP).
Ms. Akefo, who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) about the need for pregnant women to take sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets, has indicated that MS decreases placental parasitaemia and improves birth outcomes.
She insisted that “if pregnant women continue to take SP, sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets and eat very well, they will be protected against malaria.
“It’s also good for them to come to the facility early if they suspect they have malaria, so that we can test and refer for early treatment and prevention of complications,” the PMO said.
She added that malaria during pregnancy could affect the unborn baby if there were any complications, “the baby could be aborted or delivered prematurely, or the baby could be delivered to term but also have malaria, so need by SP.
Some pregnant women have told the GNA that they feel uncomfortable every time they take SP.
“As for this SP, I feel very uncomfortable all day long when I take it, sometimes I throw up even after taking it. With the mosquito net, the weather is hot this time, so I don’t use it, but I try to keep my room free from mosquitoes, ”a pregnant woman told GNA.
“I don’t like to eat in the morning so I have a hard time taking the medicine when they give it to me. Sometimes I have to have snacks and eat before I take them, ”said another pregnant woman.
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