Malaria In Pregnancy: From Miscarriage To Stillbirth - What Happens to the Baby When a Pregnant Woman Get Infected

Malaria during pregnancy is a significant public health concern, but the impact of the disease on maternal and fetal health is considerably reduced with the use of enhanced prevention and treatment strategies.

The various regions of the world, particularly India is a places stricken with the dangers of Malaria. Even though India is one of the countries with a declining rate of Malaria, it's still considered a threat, especially for people like pregnant women. The pregnant woman's body is put through a number of changes, which puts her body at risk of infection from different diseases, including Malaria. This is most likely the case because of a phenomenon called transient immunosuppression. The phenomenon compromises the pregnant woman's body's ability to fight off the Plasmodium parasite, considering the fetus is genetically different.

In this article, Dr Durga Damodharan, MBBS, MIRCGP, Dip in Diabetes (UK), FAM, Sr. Consultant Family Physician and Diabetologist, Apollo Cradle and Children's Hospital, Chennai, Karapakkam, tells us more about what actually happens to the baby when an expecting mother gets infected with Malaria. Read on to learn the safety measures.

Malaria In Pregnancy: What Happens If You Get Infected After Conceiving?

Malaria infections result in severe health problems that include anaemia and miscarriage and premature birth and multiple additional severe complications. The disease creates dual risks for pregnant women because it damages their health while simultaneously endangering their unborn child through low birth weight and dangerous medical conditions.

The Plasmodium falciparum parasite requires placental tissue to develop because it enables infected red blood cells to attach to its surface. The immune system of women who have had malaria before fails to recognize the parasite transformation, which leads to new malaria infections during pregnancy.

What Are The Impacts?

Malaria infection during pregnancy leads to severe effects that affect many pregnant women. The primary biological result of malaria infection during pregnancy leads to low birth weight, which causes high infant mortality rates and delays development. The two main causes of low birth weight include maternal anaemia, which reduces red blood cell numbers, and insufficient placental function.

The combination of preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation, stillbirth, miscarriage, and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) presents as other possible complications. Congenital malaria develops as a rare condition when a mother passes the infection to her baby during delivery.

Malaria During Pregnancy: How To Stay Safe?

The prevention of malaria during pregnancy requires several essential steps, which include:

Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT)

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that it supports Intermediate Preventive Treatment (IPT) for pregnant women. In the IPT program, which is supported, they propose a schedule for administering medication to pregnant women, which may include times when they do not have malaria symptoms.

Diagnosis & Treatment

Medical professionals have to identify all cases of pregnancy-related malaria at once, which in turn is protected by early treatment. What we do is use the presentation of symptoms as the base for this diagnosis, which in turn enables us to protect the health of the mother and the baby.

Environmental Control Measures

The most successful method to stop malaria transmission involves removing breeding sites that mosquitoes use to reproduce from your home environment and the surrounding community areas. The elimination of stagnant water and proper coverage of water containers and house edges, along with regular maintenance of tall grass and overgrown bushes, will stop mosquito breeding and malaria parasite spread.

Indoor Residual Spray (IRS)

Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) provides for the application of insecticides to the inside walls of houses to kill mosquitoes when they land on indoor walls after they have fed. This approach is particularly effective during the height of the indoor malaria transmission season. It affords community protection in reducing the total number of mosquitoes indoors.

Malaria during pregnancy is a significant public health concern, but the impact of the disease on maternal and fetal health is considerably reduced with the use of enhanced prevention and treatment strategies.