Healthcare providers perceptions regarding the presence of Birth Companion during childbirth at a tertiary care hospital in India.

Background: Despite an increase in institutional births and a fall in maternal mortality, the satisfaction of women with their birthing experience in public health institutions is low. Birth Companion (BC) is an important part of the Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative introduced by the Government of India in 2017. Despite mandates, its implementation has been unsatisfactory.

COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy: Need for global pharmaco-vigilance.

Coronavirus infectious disease has been around for more than 2 years as a pandemic, but now appears to have taken the form of an endemic. COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women is presently being recommended and followed in most countries. However, robust scientific evidence on safety of the vaccine in the medium or long term, or regarding any adverse effects, is lacking.

Vaccination of pregnant women against COVID-19 in India and Indonesia: Moving beyond the opt-in to the opt-out option.

In view of the continued threat of COVID‐19, and to synergize with routine antenatal care, COVID‐19 vaccination should become a default part of routine antenatal care with an opt‐out option.

Prioritizing pregnant women for COVID-19 vaccination.

Despite emerging evidence on safety and efficacy, most countries do not offer COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women even though they are at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. We performed a web search of COVID-19 vaccination policies for pregnant women under two categories: countries bearing a high burden of COVID-19 cases and countries with a high burden of maternal and under-five mortality. Of the top 20 countries affected by COVID-19, 11 allow vaccination of pregnant women, of which two have deemed it safe to vaccinate pregnant women as a high-risk group.