oandgint

It can be argued that there are three colliding pandemics that are currently affecting the planet and its people: COVID-19, global inequities and climate change. Regrettably, these are all the result of human action or inaction and are preventable. Th e United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in November 2021 in Glasgow, addressed some of these issues.

During the study period, 2430 babies were born, of which 239 had congenital malformations, making the prevalence 9.84%. Most of the women giving birth (49.79%) belonged to the age group 20 to 29 years. Congenital anomalies were seen more commonly (69.87%) in the multiparas in comparison to the primiparas (30.13%). The predominant system affected by congenital defects was the central nervous system (CNS) (40.60%) followed by multiple/gross congenital anomalies (18.83%) and the musculoskeletal system (12.98%).

Gastroschisis and omphalocoele represent the two most common anterior abdominal wall defects. Omphalocoele consists of evisceration of abdominal contents into a sac at the base of the umbilical cord while gastroschisis is a para-umbilical defect resulting in free floating loops of bowel and occasionally, organs in the amniotic fluid.

Since the introduction of the South African Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOP) in 1996, there has been a substantial decrease in maternal death due to unsafe Termination of pregnancies (TOPs). Mbele et al demonstrated a drop in mortality index for women in Pretoria West from 21.7% to 2.0% (p = 0.02, RR 0.1, 95% CI 0.01-0.89) between the timeframes of 1997-1998 and 2003–2005.

A 34-year-old female (gravida 5; para 3; miscarriage 1) at 33 weeks, with dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twins was referred from a secondary-level hospital with upper gastrointestinal (GIT) bleeding based on a history of abdominal pain and coffee-grounds vomiting. An upper GIT endoscopy at the referring hospital found esophagitis with no active upper GIT bleeding, which did not explain the patient’s condition.