But I am the only
midwife in my
village! I must go
to the birth!
Preventing infection saves lives
If you are sick but you must go
to a birth, you can cover your mouth
and nose with a scarf, a folded cloth
or a mask. Wash your hands often
and cover your mouth when you
sneeze or cough. Be sure to wash
your hands after each time you
sneeze or cough. Try not to touch
the new baby too much.
Anyone may carry germs that cause sickness
People do not always know that they have an infection. And there is no way to tell
for sure what germs a person has just by looking at her. Some people have germs
in their blood or other body fluids but do not seem sick.
To be safe, and to stop the spread of dangerous
infections like hepatitis and HIV, health workers
must treat everyone as if they might have dangerous
germs in their body fluids. Health workers can
prevent germs from spreading:
Wait! I need
gloves before
I touch her
placenta.
• by wearing gloves and
other protective clothing,
to prevent blood and
other body fluids that
contain germs from
getting on themselves or
others.
• by cleaning and sterilizing the
tools they use during births and
other procedures.
Note: Good general health can help avoid infection. Healthy eating,
enough rest, and emotional and spiritual well-being are all important
for staying healthy. Sometimes they are enough to help people fight
germs that get inside the body so the person does not get sick.
But during birth and invasive medical procedures, a woman’s body is
more open and vulnerable to infection, and good general health is
usually not enough. Germs that are usually kept out of the body can
get into the womb. Any cut in the skin also makes a person more
vulnerable to infection because the skin usually helps keep germs out
of the body. Even an injection can cause an infection if the syringe has
harmful germs on it.
A Book for Midwives (2010)
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