Knowledge and practices: Risk perceptions of COVID-19 and satisfaction with preventive measures at workplace among maternity care providers in Pakistan

Abstract

INTRODUCTION While all healthcare services across the globe deferred non-urgent surgeries, labor wards provided maternity care during the pandemic continuously. This study assesses the knowledge and practices of obstetricians and midwives about personal protective equipment (PPE), their risk perception of COVID-19 and satisfaction with the preventive measures adopted at their workplace. METHODS A questionnaire, designed according to the World Health Organization’s advice on rational use of personal protective equipment for COVID-19, was administered to 452 Pakistani maternity care providers between 1 July and 30 July 2020. RESULTS Only 32% of pregnant women had a good compliance to their routine antenatal drugs while forgetfulness (27.2%) and vomiting as a side effect of a drug (25.7%) were the major barriers to compliance with routine drugs. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant association between respondents’ compliance with antenatal drugs and number of children as well as level of income (p<0.001). No statistically significant association was found between education level and compliance. CONCLUSIONS Nurses and other health workers should support pregnant women to set reminders for taking their medications and prescribe alternative dosage forms or products that will not induce vomiting. In addition, antenatal education should emphasize the benefits of adherence to routine taking of medications at every stage of pregnancy and the possible negative consequences of non-compliance.

Attitudes and Satisfaction toward the Taken Procedures to Tackle COVID-19 Pandemic in Palestine

“…These results show a similar satisfaction score for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while the level of satisfaction was less in East Jerusalem. This is somewhat in line with the findings of another study by Izhar et al (2020), which found that only 19.5% were satisfied with the social distancing measures in Pakistan ( 23 ). Less than one-third (31%) were satisfied with the PPE available to them.…”

Compliance with Standard Precautions among Midwives during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In this study, we found a high frequency of usage of PPE among midwives as 73.9% always use PPE and 20.5% often use it. This is in consonance with the finding of Izhar et al (2021) among midwives and obstetricians in Pakistan where 78.8% of the respondents had good practices regarding usage of PPE. Given the delicate nature of midwifery care, PPE should be used by midwives always and not sometimes as reported by 64 midwives and rarely as reported by 18 midwives in this study.…”

Midwives’ Knowledge and Preparedness in Providing Maternity Care During COVID-19 Pandemic in Dodoma Region, Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In this study, 54.4% of the midwives had adequate knowledge during the first surge of COVID-19. Surprisingly, this level of knowledge in the present study was significantly lower than 89.5%, 88%, 85, and 70% of the level of knowledge among health care providers including midwives that were reported ( Kasahun et al, 2020 ) in China, Northern Ethiopia, Pakistan, and the Amhara region in Ethiopia, respectively ( Asemahagn, 2020 ; Izhar et al, 2021 ; Shi et al, 2020a ; Wuneh et al, 2021 ).…”