COVID-19 Pandemic and Maternal Perspectives

Aim Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected perinatal women worldwide. Our study aimed to describe the opinions of perinatal women about COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude, and practices. Methods Pregnant and Postnatal women (n=223) were included and those who did not consent, and less than 16 weeks' gestation, were excluded. SPSS version 26 was used for descriptive statistics. Results Most of the women had good knowledge about COVID 19 regarding its nature, transmission, & symptoms. Their information sources were news (139/206=67.5%) and the internet (85/206=41%). Women understood the uncertainty around its effect on pregnancy; as it is a novel infection. A substantial number of women were concerned (130/206=63%), upset by social isolation (86/206=42%), negatively impacted by the visitor restrictions in hospital (154/206=75%), and faced COVID-19 related reduced household finances (97/206=47%). Most of them used hand washing (201/206=98%) & social distancing (191/206=93%) as preventive measures. They reported compromised contact with General Physician (GP) service as compared to the hospital service (85/206=41% Vs 31/206=15% respectively) during the pandemic. Conclusions The main challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for perinatal women are the jeopardized GP & hospital services & psychological distress. It is imperative to incorporate telemedicine & virtual visits to tackle the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perinatal women, are particularly vulnerable to the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic & societal lockdown, thus necessitating holistic interventions.