Pregnant women in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are avoiding health clinics due to fear of Ebola infection [1, 2].

This trend creates a secondary health crisis where preventable maternal and neonatal complications go untreated, potentially offsetting the gains of Ebola containment efforts.

Ituri province in the eastern DRC is currently the hardest-hit area of the ongoing Ebola outbreak [1, 2]. The fear of contracting the virus at medical facilities has led to a significant drop in the utilization of essential health services. In the most affected areas, health-service use has fallen by more than 40 percent [1].

The impact on maternal health has been severe. Birth-related deaths in Ituri have doubled as women skip prenatal care and delivery services [1]. This decline in clinic visits is further compounded by clinic closures and strikes, which have limited the availability of care for those who are willing to seek it [1, 4].

Health officials said that women and children bear a disproportionate share of the outbreak's impact [2]. While the primary goal of the medical response is to stop the transmission of Ebola, the resulting atmosphere of fear has deterred women from seeking life-saving interventions for pregnancy and childbirth.

Local challenges include a lack of trust in the safety of clinical environments. When pregnant women avoid professional care, they often resort to home births without skilled attendance, increasing the risk of hemorrhage, and infection. These factors contribute to the rising mortality rates in the region [1, 3].

“Birth-related deaths in Ituri have doubled”

The situation in Ituri illustrates the 'collateral damage' of epidemic responses, where the fear of a high-mortality pathogen like Ebola disrupts the delivery of basic primary healthcare. When maternal mortality spikes during an outbreak, it indicates a systemic failure to integrate routine health services with emergency epidemic controls, suggesting that trust and safety perceptions are as critical as medical supplies in saving lives.