Companionship for women using English maternity services during COVID-19: National and organisational perspectives

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the impact of COVID-19 on companionship for women using maternity services in England, as part of the Achieving Safe and Personalised maternity care In Response to Epidemics (ASPIRE COVID-19 UK) study. Setting: Maternity care provision in England. Participants: Interviews were held with 26 national governmental, professional, and service-user organisation leads including representatives from the Royal College of Midwives, NHS England, Birthrights and AIMS (July-Dec). Other data included public-facing outputs logged from 25 maternity Trusts (Sept/Oct) and data extracted from 78 documents from 8 key governmental, professional and service-user organisations that informed national maternity care guidance and policy (Feb-Dec). Results: Six themes emerged: Postcode lottery of care highlights variations in companionship practices, Confusion and stress around rules relates to a lack of and variable information concerning companionship, Unintended consequences concerns the negative impacts of restricted companionship on service-users and staff, Need for flexibility highlights concerns about applying companionship policies irrespective of need, Acceptable time for support highlights variations in when and if companionship was allowed antenatally and intrapartum; and Loss of human rights for gain in infection control emphasizes how a predominant focus on infection control was at a cost to psychological safety and womens human rights. Conclusions: Policies concerning companionship have been inconsistently applied within English maternity services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, policies were not justified by the level of risk, and were applied indiscriminately regardless of need. This was associated with psychological harms for some women and staff. There is an urgent need to determine how to balance risks and benefits sensitively and flexibly and to optimise outcomes during the current and future crisis situations.

COVID‐19 pandemic and perinatal mental health: A commentary on the impact, risk factors, and protective factors

“…This may be associated with reported concerns about increased stress and frustration in women that lacked companions for antenatal contacts, ultrasound scans, during labor and childbirth, and in the early postnatal period. 18…”

“…Moreover, women who delivered during the pandemic reported higher acute stress level compared to those who did not. This may be associated with reported concerns about increased stress and frustration in women that lacked companions for antenatal contacts, ultrasound scans, during labor and childbirth, and in the early postnatal period 18 …”