Poor public health information is a hurdle in infectious disease control. The study aims to examine whether healthcare workers adhere to hand hygiene and mask-wearing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore their exposure to misinformation about the pandemic as a predictor. A cross-sectional survey was sent to 518 healthcare workers across Indonesia, the fourth largest nation in the world, in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents reported whether they adhered to the guidelines of hand hygiene and mask wearing and whether they believed in four pieces of misinformation about the origin, severity, contagion, and prevention of COVID-19. The association between misinformation and hand hygiene and mask wearing was tested with logistic regression models controlling for demographic and health-related covariates. Approximately 25% of healthcare workers did not always adhere to hand hygiene guidelines and approximately 5% did not adhere to mask-wearing guidelines. There are significant associations between all four pieces of misinformation and hand hygiene and mask wearing. It is important to improve public health information about COVID-19, which may hold key to healthcare workers’ hand hygiene and mask wearing and to protect their health and patients’ safety.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2019 was met with various responses globally in an effort to reduce its spread. Despite these efforts, however, low- and middle-income countries like Indonesia are still being confronted with challenges, especially the healthcare providers who are frontline workers in the struggle. The current study aimed to explore the support expected by and provided to Indonesian midwives and pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research method used was a descriptive-interpretative qualitative research design. The data was collected through conducting in-depth interviews with 24 midwives who were purposively sampled and evenly recruited across all regions and all areas of midwifery practice in Indonesia. The recorded interviews were coded and themes were identified, after which a thematic analysis was done. Two main themes emerged and nine sub-themes were identified from the main themes. The study findings offered new insights into the individual and collective experiences of midwives from various regions in Indonesia. They had to adjust by leveraging the internet and mobile telephones in order to continue delivering standard care to pregnant women amid the pandemic. In addition, the midwives saw the need to provide food and financial support to pregnant women. However, despite the end of the pandemic being in sight in September 2022, there is a need to continue to support midwives and pregnant women in the disruption caused by the pandemic. Government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should plan interventions targeted at providing specific support to midwives and pregnant women.

Maternal mortality remains public health issue. One of its leading causes is postpartum haemorrhage. The aim of this study is to test the relationship between haemoglobin levels, perineal tear, retained placenta, uterine atony, and maternal mortality from postpartum haemorrhage in Jember district, Indonesia. This case-control study comprised 43 mothers died from postpartum haemorrhage (cases), and 43 mothers survived from postpartum haemorrhage (controls) between from January 2017 and December 2019. Data were obtained from maternal verbal autopsies, complemented by birth registrations and medical records in 26 community health centres across Jember district. The chi-square, and multivariate logistic regression were administered to test the hypothesis. The results of this study indicate that Haemoglobin levels (p = 0.032, OR 6.372, 95% CI 1.172 - 34.626),  retained placenta (p = 0.033, OR 4.578 95% CI 1.128 – 18.587), and atonia utery (p= 0.014, OR 4.578 95% 1.364 – 16.502) had significant relationship with maternal deaths from postpartum haemorrhage. However, perineal tear (p= 0.155, OR 0.347 95% 0.081 – 1.490) had no significant relationship with maternal deaths from postpartum haemorrhage. The conclusion in this study is Identifying obstetric factors are important. Therefore, conducting early detection screening during pregnancy is encouraged to reduce postpartum haemorrhage maternal death.

Background: While the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across nations in significant terms, midwives who play a crucial role in offering maternal and child care amid the pandemic stand a high risk of being infected. Examining their level of compliance with the standard precautions amid the pandemic is important.Purpose: To assess the level of compliance of midwives in Indonesia with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) usage and hand washing.Methods: In June 2020, an online cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1520 midwives in Indonesia during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26. Association between demographic variables and compliance with standard precautions was measured using Chi-square test. Results: Approximately 74% of midwives used PPE and masks when outside while more than 40% of them did not always wash their hands after they touch an object outside home. A significant association was found between level of education (p =.001), region (p =.000) and mask usage. However, association between ethnicity and mask usage; region and handwashing were not significant.   Conclusion: Majority of the midwives in Indonesia complied with PPE usage, but majority did not adhere to hand washing. This highlights the need for appropriate interventions to improve compliance to standard precautions in a bid to curtail further spread of the pandemic.

Introduction: Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related complication causing maternal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the relationship between anaemia and family income, and maternal death from preeclampsia in Jember district. Materials and Methods: Case-control, using medical maternal autopsy verbal, from January 2016 to December 2019. 43 mortality cases from preeclampsia, and 43 controls were included in this study. Chi-square test was to test the relationship between anaemia and family income, and maternal death from preeclampsia. Results: Mothers who died from preeclampsia were more likely to have anaemia (83.72%), and being low income (86.05%). Anaemia (OR 3.703, 95% CI p-value 0.009) and low income (OR 4.032, 95% CI, p –value 0.007) were associated with preeclampsia maternal mortality. Conclusions: To  reduce the prevalence of death from preeclampsia, preventive measurement for anaemia during pregnancy should be undertaken. In addition, women with low income during pregnancy should be encouraged to have health insurance.