Health ministry updates pregnant women care protocol

By PMA RASHEED 

2 March 2011, The Gulf Today

THE UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) on Tuesday has updated the protocol on pregnant women care in hospitals across the Northern Emirates, according to a senior health official.
Dr Hajar Al Hosani, director of the Central Administration for Maternity Care and Childhood, said the set of norms for pregnant women care have been revamped by the ministry, aimed at ensuring the highest global standard care and services provided to both mothers and infants.
“Administration officials of hospitals and primary healthcare centres in the Northern Emirates reviewed the previous protocol, before updating its articles to prepare it for the final draft of the new set of standards,” she added.
“The new norms will be implemented in maternity care departments of hospitals and primary health centres in the Northern Emirates to level up with international protocols,” noted Al Hosani.
According to her, the protocol also includes post-partum services to provide continuous medical services for mothers before and after the birth of the child.
The health ministry last month had implemented new regulations on screening of newborn babies for 16 types of genetic disorders. The national newborn screening programme will include 30 checkups from next year onwards. The screening was limited to five diseases earlier.