Early postnatal discharge during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Postnatal hospital stay is decreased by 30% during COVID-19 in developed countries. However, there is paucity of data in developing countries. Hence, this study aims to assess the prevalence of early postnatal discharge during COVID-19 in Jimma Health Centers. Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 February to 30 March 2021. Sample was calculated using single population proportion formula and allocated proportionally to the health centers. Data were interred into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 22.0 for analysis. Multivariable regression was done to identify associating factors at p < 0.05. Result: Three hundred ninety women were included into study making a response rate of 96.8%. Early discharge prevalence was 316 (81.0%). Attending elementary school adjusted odds ratio = 0.26 (confidence interval = 0.087–0.798), plan for postnatal care within a week adjusted odds ratio = 0.410 (confidence interval = 0.221–0.760), knowing postnatal maternal danger sign adjusted odds ratio = 0.258 (confidence interval = 0.141–0.473), women adjusted odds ratio = 0.421 (confidence interval = 0.211–0.838), or husband adjusted odds ratio = 0.051 (confidence interval = 0.014–0.186) made decision of discharge were negatively and distance on foot <30 min adjusted odds ratio = 3 (confidence interval = 1.121–8.058) was positively associated with early discharge significantly. Conclusion: This study has identified early postnatal discharge is high which can contribute to reduce the risk of acquiring COVID-19. However, the authors recommend further study to differentiate whether early discharge is due to COVID-19 or other reasons.

Length of Hospital Stay After Cesarean Delivery and Its Determinants Among Women in Eastern Sudan

“…Early hospital discharge has been reported as a widespread practice nowadays, especially in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. 8 After CD, a short hospital stay may reduce the cost, staff and bed capacity. 6 , 9 Moreover, short post-CD LoS is not associated with an increased readmission rate.…”

Postnatal care services availability and utilization during the COVID-19 era in sub-Saharan Africa: A rapid review

“…Of the included studies, five were conducted in Ethiopia [11] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , three in Kenya [17] , [18] , [19] , two in Nigeria [20] , [21] , and one each in the Democratic Republic of Congo [22] , Mozambique [23] , Rwanda [24] , South Africa [25] and Uganda [26] . Four were multi-country studies [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] .…”

“…Three studies employed mixed methods study designs [23] , [25] , [28] . Six of the included studies [18] , [19] , [23] , [24] , [27] , [29] were conducted during the first six months, nine during the second six months [11] , [14] , [15] , [17] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [25] , [26] , one covered the first year [30] , and three [13] , [16] , [28] after the first year of the pandemic.…”

“…Several studies which used primary data in this review revealed a decline in utilization of PNC services due to the COVID-19 pandemic [14] , [15] , [16] , [20] , [21] , [24] , [25] , [28] , [30] . PNC service utilization declines of 16 – 18% [14] , and 30 – 50% [18] were reported in Ethiopia and Nigeria respectively.…”

The Frequency of Infant-Feeding Presentations at English Emergency Departments During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Nation-Wide Electronic Health Records Study

“…During the pandemic, most inpatient intrapartum obstetric and midwifery services continued to receive patients as before, although specific mitigations were introduced to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission [ 27 ]. Early discharge from hospital was encouraged [ 29 , 30 ]. The duration of hospital stay following childbirth has decreased steadily over the last few decades to improve NHS maternity services efficiency [ 31 , 32 ].…”