Midwifery and body fluid contamination.

Blood splashes to the masks and goggles during caesarean section

“…Kabukoba and Young reported 34% hand contamination with blood and 23% incidence of broken skin in midwifery practice and concluded that current practice for preventing contamination was inadequate and that staff might be at risk of contracting viral diseases while practising obstetrics. They recommended improved protection to reduce the risk of infection 5 . Body fluid contamination has enormous implications for medical and paramedical staff practising in developing countries where 1 in 40 adult men and women are HIV positive 3 .…”

Facial and body blood contamination in major gynecologic surgeries

“…They concluded that the current practice of preventing contamination was inadequate and that staff might be at risk of contacting viral diseases while practicing obstetrics 6 . They recommended improved protection to reduce the risk of infection 6 . In a study of the occurrence of blood splashes during cesarean section, we reported a blood splash rate of 40% (mask) and 31% (goggles) for surgeons and 49.29% (mask) and 21.12% (goggles) for assistants 1 .…”

“…Kabukoba and Young reported 34% hand contamination with blood and 23% incidence of broken skin in midwifery practice. They concluded that the current practice of preventing contamination was inadequate and that staff might be at risk of contacting viral diseases while practicing obstetrics 6 . They recommended improved protection to reduce the risk of infection 6 .…”

“…Healthcare professionals, particularly general surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists, orthopedic surgeons and dental surgeons, are at risk of acquiring viral diseases like hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from contamination of skin, mucous membranes and conjunctiva with blood 1–5 . Obstetricians and midwives often face blood splashes and facial and body blood and amniotic fluid contamination and are at an increased risk of acquiring HIV and other viral diseases 1,2,6 . Guidelines have been issued to minimize the risk of contamination with body fluids 7 .…”

“…The Centre for Disease Control policy statement also advises universal precautions for the avoidance of transmission of these diseases 8 . However, in actual clinical practice few doctors comply with these recommendations and guidelines 6 . In actual clinical practice the wearing of goggles, gumboots and protective clothing is uncommon and even the wearing of masks is becoming less common 2 .…”