Protecting Women's and Newborns' Rights in a Public Maternity Unit During the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Case of Dra. Eloísa Díaz - La Florida Hospital in Santiago, Chile.

The Maternity in Dra. Eloísa Díaz' hospital, located in the municipality of La Florida and city of Santiago, Chile, opened its doors in 2014, and has integrated a humanistic model of care called the "Safe Model of Personalized Childbirth" since 2016. With around 3,000 births per year, it has been recognized as an example of excellence in maternity care in the country. The COVID-19 outbreak presented a big challenge to this Maternity: to maintain its quality of care standards despite the health crisis. This article presents the Maternity's responses to the pandemic from March to July 2020, describing the strategies that were deployed and the obstetric outcomes achieved. Semi-structured interviews with midwives and OB-GYNs, and a retrospective review of the childbirth standards of care and outcomes of the 55 women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, were carried out. The results show how the Maternity's staff responded in order to avoid a significant negative impact on the rights of women and newborns. Protocols to reestablish the companion during labor and childbirth and skin-to-skin contact, which were suspended for almost three weeks at the beginning of the outbreak, and the creation of an Instagram account to communicate with the external community were some of the measures taken. After some initial weeks of adjustment, the standards of care for all women, included for those diagnosed with COVID-19, were reestablished almost to pre-pandemic levels. This case shows that quality of care can be maintained and the rights of women and newborns can be respected during health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Activation of BK Channel Contributes to PL-Induced Mesenchymal Stem Cell Migration.

Due to their capacity to proliferate, migrate, and differentiate, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to be good candidates for regenerative medicine applications. The mechanisms underlying proliferation and differentiation of MSCs have been studied. However, much less is known about the mechanisms regulating the migration of MSCs. Platelet lysate (PL), a supplement used to promote cell expansion, has been shown to promote MSCs migration; however, the underlying mechanism are unknown. Here, by using adipose-derived rat MSCs (rMSCs) and the scratch assay in the absence and presence of various BK channels modulators, we evaluated the role of BK channels in mediating the PL-stimulated migration of rMSCs. We found that 5% PL increased rMSCs migration, and this effect was blocked by the addition of the BK channel selective antagonist Iberiotoxin (IBTX). In the absence of PL, the BK channel agonist NS1619, stimulated rMSCs migration to similar level as 5% PL. Addition of both NS1619 and 5% PL resulted in an increase in rMSCs migration, that was higher than when either one was added individually. From whole-cell recordings, it was found that the addition of 5% PL increased the magnitude of BK current density. By using Western blot and flow cytometry, it was found that PL did not affect the expression of BK channels. Together, our results indicate that as shown in other cell types, activation of BK channels by themselves also promote rMSC migration, and show that activation of BK channels contribute to the observed PL-induced increase in migration of rMSC.