Obstetrical Unit Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: OUR Study

Pluym, Ilina D.; Rao, Rashmi; Ballas, Jerasimos; Ramos, Gladys A.; Cross, Sarah; Zapata, M.; Srinivas, Sindhu K.; Louis, Judette; Werner, Erika F.; Afshar, Yalda; Han, Christina S.

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1715861

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A complete set of protective clothing against contamination with Sars-CoV-2 consists of a respiratory mask (FFP2 or N95), a protective overall with hood, gloves, and protective goggles [5,20,26,[28][29][30][31].…”

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though the number of positive Covid-19 women in hospitals increased, the USA did not set hygiene standards speci cally for the pandemic and standards varied within the country [29]. Since protective clothing was hard to procure, respiratory mask use increased only slightly over time; they were not worn at every birth [5,29,31], perhaps because communal facility budgets were tight and the materials were hard to access [29]. Repeated changes and restrictions unsettled maternity staff, who were not sure if protective clothing would prevent them or their families and colleagues from contracting Covid-19 [5].…”

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Maternity Staff in 2020 – A Scoping Review

Schmitt

Mattern

Cignacco

et al. 2021

Preprint

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In the spring of 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus caused the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing with it drastic changes and challenges for health systems and medical staff. Among the affected were obstetricians and midwives, whose close physical contact with pregnant women, women who recently gave birth, and their children was indispensable. In the obstetric setting, births cannot be postponed, and maternity staff had to adapt to assure obstetric safety while balancing evidence-based standards with the new challenges posed by the pandemic. This scoping review gives a comprehensive overview of the effecs the Covid-19 pandemic had on maternity staff. We followed the evidence-based approach described by Arksey & O’Malley: we searched several databases for English and German articles published between January 2020 and January 2021 that discussed or touched upon the effects the pandemic had on maternity staff in OECD countries and China.We found that structural challenges caused by the crisis and its subjective effects on maternity staff fell into two main topic areas. Structural challenges (the first main topic) were divided into five subtopics: staff shortages and restructuring; personal protective equipment and tests; switching to virtual communication; handling women with a positive SARS-CoV-2 infection; and excluding accompanying persons. The pandemic also strongly affected the staff’s mental health (the second main topic.) Attempting to meet challenges posed by the pandemic while afraid of contamination, suffering overwork and exhaustion, and struggling to resolve ethical-moral dilemmas had severe negative subjective effects. Several studies indicated increased depression, anxiety, stress levels, and risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms, although the crisis also generated strong occupational solidarity.Care for pregnant, birthing, and breast-feeding women cannot be interrupted, even during a pandemic crisis that requires social distancing. Maternity staff sometimes had to abandon normal standards of obstetric care and were confronted with enormous challenges and structural adjustments that did not leave them unscathed: their mental health suffered considerably. Researchers should study maternity staff’s experiences during the pandemic to prepare recommendations that will protect staff during future epidemics.

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Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Maternity Staff in 2020 – A Scoping Review

Schmitt

Mattern

Cignacco

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some maternity hospitals, a midwife was only allowed to wear a respiratory mask during the birth [33], and other hospitals made complete protective clothing was compulsory at every birth, for self-protection and to protect the newborn child [5,21]. A survey of 301 hospitals in 48 US states revealed that only 33% required complete protective clothing at each vaginal birth of an asymptomatic women and 38% at caesarean sections [31].…”

Section: B Personal Protective Equipment and Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on maternity staff in 2020 – a scoping review

Schmitt

Mattern

Cignacco

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the spring of 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus caused the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing with it drastic changes and challenges for health systems and medical staff. Among the affected were obstetricians and midwives, whose close physical contact with pregnant women, women who recently gave birth, and their children was indispensable. In the obstetric setting, births cannot be postponed, and maternity staff had to adapt to assure obstetric safety while balancing evidence-based standards with the new challenges posed by the pandemic. This scoping review gives a comprehensive overview of the effecs the Covid-19 pandemic had on maternity staff. We followed the evidence-based approach described by Arksey & O’Malley: we searched several databases for English and German articles published between January 2020 and January 2021 that discussed or touched upon the effects the pandemic had on maternity staff in OECD countries and China. We found that structural challenges caused by the crisis and its subjective effects on maternity staff fell into two main topic areas. Structural challenges (the first main topic) were divided into five subtopics: staff shortages and restructuring; personal protective equipment and tests; switching to virtual communication; handling women with a positive SARS-CoV-2 infection; and excluding accompanying persons. The pandemic also strongly affected the staff’s mental health (the second main topic.) Attempting to meet challenges posed by the pandemic while afraid of contamination, suffering overwork and exhaustion, and struggling to resolve ethical-moral dilemmas had severe negative subjective effects. Several studies indicated increased depression, anxiety, stress levels, and risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms, although the crisis also generated strong occupational solidarity. Care for pregnant, birthing, and breast-feeding women cannot be interrupted, even during a pandemic crisis that requires social distancing. Maternity staff sometimes had to abandon normal standards of obstetric care and were confronted with enormous challenges and structural adjustments that did not leave them unscathed: their mental health suffered considerably. Researchers should study maternity staff’s experiences during the pandemic to prepare recommendations that will protect staff during future epidemics.

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