Transfer of Facts and Fake News with Regard to SARS-CoV-2-Infected Pregnant and Parturient Women and Its Impact on Them as Well as on Staff

Transfer of facts and fakes with regard to SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant and parturient women and its impact on them as well as on staff. Facts and fakes have become undistinguishable – especially in crisis, for example, SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. This is due to a misuse of language in wording, framing and story-telling – especially in “social” media. “Infodemic” leads to communication chaos. One-sided prejudiced “information” without checking evidence or the availability of control can be distributed by anyone. Mechanisms of infodemic are: arguing for the sake of repetition of own fixed opinions, flooding the zone with irrelevant and inconsistent information, emotionalising and politicising of content of other areas. Measures against spreading of SARS-Cov-2 infection, for example, are interpreted as oppression of people’s freedom. Fakes produce problematic consequences and make people physically, psychosomatically, psychosocially sick, which is shown here by impact on SARS-Cov-2-infected pregnant and parturient women. Thus, vaccination may this way become a question of beliefs and the refusal of vaccination becomes an act of political resistance. Vaccination is no more understood as a medical offer to protect oneself as well as other people against severe courses of illness, for example, the pregnant woman and her infant. Healthcare-workers were exposed not only to infection, but also to non-compliance of patients and relatives and even aggression. That set them up for trouble and for burn out in times when they were needed most. What can be done to counteract these developments? Ethical language use is the basis of rational communication, transfer of knowledge grounded in medical evidence and as such the precondition of best practice in medicine. Health literacy based on rational thinking means following sound arguments. Emotional literacy helps to develop the capability of empathy, sense and sensibility. Language literacy leads to on understanding what wording, framing and story-telling bring about in terms of consequences. Ethical literacy provides insight into consequences, self-commitment, solidarity, awareness of mass media’s power and its misuse. Thorough examination of who qualifies for testimonial is of core importance. Last but not least balancing of rights/duties of all people concerned helps to fight the crisis. Pan-demic, literally means, all people are called to their responsibility – in all sincerity and ethical obligation of ethical language use.