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Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Regional Obstetrical Care in Miyagi Prefecture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2016

Junichi Sugawara ,
Tetsuro Hoshiai ,
Kazuyo Sato ,
Hideki Tokunaga ,
Hidekazu Nishigori ,
Takanari Arai ,
Kunihiro Okamura  and
Nobuo Yaegashi
Junichi Sugawara*
Affiliation:
Division of Feto-Maternal Medical Science, Department of Community Medical Support, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Tetsuro Hoshiai
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Kazuyo Sato
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Iwate Prefectural Chubu Hospital, Kitakami, Japan
Hideki Tokunaga
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Hidekazu Nishigori
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Takanari Arai
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keijyu Hospital, Kanazawa, Japan
Kunihiro Okamura
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku Kohsai Hospital, Sendai, Japan
Nobuo Yaegashi
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
*
Correspondence: Junichi Sugawara, MD, PhD Division of Feto-Maternal Medical Science Department of Community Medical Support Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan E-mail: jsugawara@med.tohoku.ac.jp
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Abstract

Objectives

The authors report the results of surveys on the emergency transport or evacuation status of obstetric patients conducted in Miyagi prefecture, one of the major disaster areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Methods

The surveys examined the damages to maternity institutions, evacuation status and transport of pregnant women, and prehospital childbirths and were conducted in 50 maternity institutions and 12 fire departments in Miyagi.

Results

Two coastal institutions were destroyed completely, and four institutions were destroyed partially by the tsunami, forcing them to stop medical services. In the two-month period after the disaster, 217 pregnant women received hospital transport or gave birth after evacuation. Satisfactory perinatal outcomes were maintained. Emergency obstetric transport increased to approximately 1.4 fold the number before the disaster. Twenty-three women had prehospital childbirths, indicating a marked increase to approximately three times the number of the previous year.

Conclusion

In the acute phase of the tsunami disaster, maternity institutions were damaged severely and perinatal transport was not possible; as a result, pregnant women inevitably gave birth in unplanned institutions, and the number of prehospital births was increased extremely. To obtain satisfactory obstetric outcomes, it is necessary to construct a future disaster management system and to re-recognize pregnant women as people with special needs in disaster situations.

SugawaraJ , HoshiaiT , SatoK , TokunagaH , NishigoriH , AraiT , OkamuraK , YaegashiN . Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Regional Obstetrical Care in Miyagi Prefecture. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(3):255–258.

Keywords

Great East Japan Earthquakeregional obstetrical caretsunami
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 255 - 258
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2016 

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