A resilient maternity care system
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in both countries’
maternity care systems, particularly in terms of hospital and staff
capacities. Both countries introduced innovations to help mitigate these
vulnerabilities and to develop a more resilient maternity care system.
These included more community-based birth locations (e.g., the use of
hotels as birth centres), the development of escalation plans
(illustrating the actions that need to be taken when there is a crisis
that has an impact upon capacity), and the digital storage of key
documents. WhatsApp groups to communicate were set up among maternity
care providers, and alternative transport options (e.g., dedicated
taxis) were put in place for non-emergency transport during birth in
case of shortages in ambulance provision.