India is expected to report 20 million births, the highest in the region, during this period, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh (2.4 million) and Afghanistan (one million), according to the report released on May 6.
Lockdown situation to prevent the spread of coronavirus may be a cause for delay or unavailability of medical services for the child bearing women, putting millions of babies at risk, said the report.
"The continuing rapid spread of Covid-19 across South Asia means new mothers and newborns will be greeted by harsh realities, including global containment measures such as lockdowns and curfews, health centres overwhelmed with response efforts, supply and equipment shortages, and a lack of sufficient skilled birth attendants as health workers [...] are redeployed to treat Covid-19 patients.”
Unicef also warns that although evidence suggests that pregnant mothers are not more affected by Covid-19 than others, countries need to ensure they still have access to antenatal, delivery and post-natal services.
"Likewise, sick newborns need emergency services as they are at high risk of death. New families require care to ensure the health and well-being of mothers, support to start breastfeeding, and to get medicines, vaccines and nutrition to keep their babies healthy," the report said.
The UN body also requested the governments to make sure that the following steps are taken to save lives in the upcoming months:
- Helping women receive regular checkups during their pregnancy, skilled delivery care and post-delivery care
- Ensuring health workers are provided with the necessary personal protective equipment and priority testing and vaccination for Covid-19 when it becomes available
- Ensuring that all infection prevention and control measures are being followed at health facilities
- Allowing healthcare workers to reach pregnant women through home visits, encouraging women living in rural areas to visit maternal waiting homes, and using mobile health strategies for tele-consultations
- Training, protecting and equipping health workers with kits to attend to home births
- Allocating resources to lifesaving services and supplies for maternal and child health