Disaster, women, mothers and children, families, preparedness

Maternal Nursing and Midwifery

Women and infants are considered to be people who require support in the event of a disaster. In particular, women and children in the perinatal period and child-rearing period face great difficulties in evacuating and the mental and physical burden of evacuation life. The importance of disaster preparedness is well known in Japanese society, but it is not easy to take action to prepare for disasters that may strike at any time. In particular, women in the child-rearing period are busy every day with caring for their children, housework, and work, and have challenges in finding time to prepare. It is also difficult to update preparations to suit the growing children, making it difficult to implement disaster countermeasures. Therefore, we are conducting research to clarify the thoughts and implementation status of preparations for pregnant and child-rearing mothers and families, and to promote preparations. We also provide information on how to maintain health during evacuation life for mothers and children who have become evacuees due to disasters such as wars and earthquakes overseas, and their supporters (nurses and evacuation center staff). Information is created based on research, reports, newspaper articles, etc. reported on past disasters in Japan, and is disseminated via Instagram, our website, Facebook, and paper media. In February 2022, the target audience was pregnant women and women with children who fled to neighboring countries from the war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as nurses and evacuation shelter support staff in neighboring countries. In February 2023, the Gaziantep earthquake was targeted at mothers and children and nurses in Turkey and Syria.

We provide information on how to maintain health during evacuation life to mothers and children who have become evacuees due to disasters such as war and earthquakes overseas, and their supporters (nurses and evacuation center staff).

The information is based on research, reports, newspaper articles, and other sources related to previous disasters in Japan, and is disseminated via Instagram, the website, Facebook, and in print.

It is expected that this will promote disaster preparedness. In addition, even in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, knowledge gained from Japan's experiences can be provided quickly across borders via SNS, helping to minimize health damage.

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1. "Wisdom from the Earthquake for Ukrainian Refugees," Kobe Shimbun, April 17, 2022, morning edition, p.1.
2. "Preventing health damage to pregnant women affected by disasters," Kobe Shimbun, February 28, 2023, morning edition, p.26.