At least 354 maternal deaths have been reported since March24,2020 the day the country went into its first lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Of them, at least 44 pregnant women had Covid-19-like symptom.
Some of the deceased were confirmed from laboratory tests to have contracted the virus and some had symptoms, Nisha Joshi, a senior public Health administrator at the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services, told the Post. The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on pregnant women.
The first lockdown continued four month.
Doctors say pregnant and lactating women are highly vulnerable to getting serious and dying from Covid-19. However, despite them being in the highly vulnerable group, the Ministry of Health and Population has not yet listed the women of the said groups as its priority for vaccination.