Recently, Malaysians were stunned and devastated by the death of beloved singer, Siti Sarah Raisuddin who passed away last Monday (12 August) due to Covid-19, three days after delivering her fourth child. Her husband, popular comedian, Shuib Sepahtu shared that his wife was not vaccinated and the infection had quickly spread to most of her lungs, causing her organs to stop functioning well. Unfortunately, Siti isn’t the only one.
In a similar case, Izzati Najah Amran, 26, from Penang tested positive for Covid-19. She was unvaccinated and she couldn’t be admitted to the ward as she started experiencing contractions. Her baby was then immediately delivered through surgery and she was put to sleep as her oxygen level went down to 30% that eventually led to her death.
Both these mothers were not able to meet their newborns before they passed away. While these cases are undeniably devastating, there will only be more stories like this if efforts are not made to accelerate the rate of vaccination for pregnant mothers.
Statistics of Covid-19 cases among pregnant mothers
Last week, Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah urged all pregnant mothers to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of complications from Covid-19 infections. This comes after KKM recorded that 70 pregnant women across Malaysia have died from the Covid-19 complications in a statement.
The DG said that the average number of Covid-19 cases of pregnant women from January 2021 to May 2021 was two per month.
“However, there has been a sharp increase in deaths reported since 2021, which is 17 deaths.”
Two cases out of the total had received their first dose of vaccine meanwhile the remaining 15 deaths were unvaccinated.
From the Desk of the Director-General of Health Malaysia
47% of the deaths had comorbidities and the total number of women that tested positive for Covid-19 were 3,396 cases reported between March 2020 and June 2021. “As of Aug 8, 2021, a total of 146,759 pregnant mothers had registered on the MySejahtera application for the Covid-19 vaccine.”
“Of the total, 83,251 (57%) of pregnant women had received at least one dose of vaccine, while 20% were fully inoculated,” said the Health director-general.
Register for vaccination
KKM continued to advise all pregnant mothers to get vaccinated to reduce complications if should they contracted the Covid-19 virus.
He added that “husbands must support their partner to ensure they get vaccinated as well”. He also reminded that vaccines need to be administered before a pregnant mother enters the third trimester.
For illustration purposes only
The percentage of pregnant mothers registering for vaccination via MySejahtera is still low at 40%. He highlighted that,
“Pregnant mothers are also considered as a high-risk group, preventive measures are important to prevent them from being infected.”
Let’s get vaccinated to hinder ourselves and our loved ones from contracting the virus!
Read Also: “She didn’t get to meet her” M’sian Man Grieves Wife Who Died After Giving Birth Due To Covid-19
