Receiving maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of women’s partners and support persons

Vasilevski, Vidanka; Sweet, Linda; Bradfield, Zoe; Wilson, Alyce N.; Hauck, Yvonne; Kuliukas, Lesley; Homer, Caroline; Szabo, Rebecca A; Wynter, Karen

doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2021.04.012

Cited by 67 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Little information is available in the extant literature on fathers' functioning or needs during and post-pandemic. However, findings of the current study are consistent with emerging quantitative literature by our group and others that suggests the pandemic is having an adverse effect on some fathers due to COVID-19-related factors, including increased financial stressors (Cameron et al, 2020), service disruption or exclusion, and social isolation (Vasilevski et al, 2021). Within the current study, uncertainty about COVID-19 and the impact on the perinatal experience led to increased self-reported fears and anxieties.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Yet, there is still a limited understanding of the topics of concern to fathers and natural ways in which they seek information to support parenting and mental health. Notably, the stressors of becoming a father have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic due to public health restrictions that have affected daily family life and service access (DeYoung and Mangum, 2021;Vasilevski et al, 2021). Emerging literature during the pandemic suggests a nearly 10-fold increase in paternal mental health concerns (Cameron et al, 2020) from pre-pandemic metaanalyses and systematic reviews (e.g., Cameron et al, 2016;Leach et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the stressors experienced by expectant and new fathers have been exacerbated due to global shutdowns and restrictions that limit in person contacts. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the standard medical practices of pregnancy, childbirth, maternal postpartum care, and infant pediatric care, with many countries (e.g., Europe, Australia, North America) restricting fathers' access to perinatal medical appointments such as prenatal ultrasounds, routine appointments, the birth of their child, or even the NICU in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (Vasilevski et al, 2021). These changes are especially concerning for fathers given that involvement in prenatal care and knowledge access are important factors that can contribute to perinatal mental wellbeing, social support, and adjustment (Baldwin et al, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These changes are especially concerning for fathers given that involvement in prenatal care and knowledge access are important factors that can contribute to perinatal mental wellbeing, social support, and adjustment (Baldwin et al, 2019). Widespread physical distancing mandates and restrictions that prohibit seeing family and friends have also led to fathers reporting greater feelings of social isolation as a result of COVID-19 (Vasilevski et al, 2021). These factors combined create further risk for adverse perinatal psychological and adjustment outcomes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

“Any advice for a pre-dad who is freaking out?”: A qualitative analysis of paternal perinatal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic using the reddit forum predaddit

Cameron¹,

Simpson²,

Pierce³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During the COVID-19 pandemic, new parents were disproportionately affected due to public health restrictions that changed service accessibility and increased stressors. Yet, minimal research to date has examined specific pandemic-related stressors and experiences of perinatal fathers in naturalistic anonymous settings. An important and relatively novel way parents seek connection and information is through online forum use, which increased during the social isolation of the pandemic. The current study qualitatively analyzed the experiences of perinatal fathers from September to December 2020 (792 posts, 8011 comments) through Framework Analytic Approach to identify unmet support needs during COVID-19 using the online subforum, predaddit. Five main themes emergent in the thematic framework included forum use, COVID-19, psychosocial distress, family functioning, and child health and development, each of which contained related subthemes. Findings highlight the utility of predaddit as a source of information for and interactions of fathers to inform mental health services.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

“Any advice for a pre-dad who is freaking out?”: A qualitative analysis of paternal perinatal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic using the reddit forum predaddit

Cameron¹,

Simpson²,

Pierce³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This cross-sectional approach provided information from a range of participants at a discrete point in time [ 17 ]. We have successfully used this design in previous research on experiences of providing and receiving maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic in these cohorts [ 18 , 19 ]. Human research ethical approval was granted by Curtin University (HRE2020-0210) with reciprocal approval issued through Deakin University (2020–175) and The University of Melbourne (2057065).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions of maternity care consumers and providers in Australia

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction Vaccination against COVID-19 is a key global public health strategy. Health professionals including midwives and doctors support and influence vaccination uptake by childbearing women. There is currently no evidence regarding the COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions of those who receive or provide maternity care in Australia. The aim of this study was to address this gap in knowledge and explore the perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination from consumers and providers of maternity care in Australia. Methods A national cross-sectional online study conducted in early 2021 in Australia, a country that has had a very low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Recruitment was undertaken through parenting and health professional social media sites and professional college distribution lists. A total of 853 completed responses, from women (n = 326), maternity care providers including doctors (n = 58), midwives (n = 391) and midwifery students (n = 78). Findings Personal intention to be vaccinated ranged from 48–89% with doctors most likely and women least likely. Doctors and midwifery students were significantly more likely to recommend the vaccine to pregnant women in their care than midwives (p<0.001). Fewer doctors (2%) felt that women should wait until breastfeeding had concluded before being vaccinated compared with 24% of midwives and 21% of midwifery students (p<0.001). More than half of the midwives (53%) had concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine for the women in their care compared with 35% of doctors and 46% of midwifery students. Despite national guidelines recommending vaccination of breastfeeding women, 54% of practitioners were unlikely to recommend vaccination for this group. Conclusion This is the first study to explore the perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination from the perspective of those who receive and provide maternity care in Australia. Findings have utility to support targeted public health messaging for these and other cohorts.

show abstract

Quality of maternal and newborn care in Switzerland during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study based on WHO quality standards

Labrusse

Abderhalden-Zellweger

Mariani

et al. 2022

Intl J Gynecology & Obste

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To explore quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) in healthcare facilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Switzerland. Methods Women giving birth in Switzerland answered a validated online questionnaire including 40 WHO standards‐based quality measures. QMNC score was calculated according to linguistic region and mode of birth. Differences were assessed using logistic regression analysis adjusting for relevant variables. Results A total of 1175 women were included in the analysis. Limitations in QMNC during the pandemic were reported by 328 (27.9%) women. Several quality measures, such as deficient communication (18.0%, n = 212), insufficient number of healthcare professionals (19.7%, n = 231), no information on the newborn after cesarean (26.5%, n = 91) or maternal and newborn danger signs (34.1%, n = 401 and 41.4% n = 487, respectively) suggested preventable gaps in QMNC. Quality measures significantly differed by linguistic region and mode of birth. Multivariate analysis established a significantly lower QMNC for women in French‐ and Italian‐speaking regions compared with the German‐speaking region. Moreover, in several quality indicators reflecting communication with healthcare providers, women who did not answer the questionnaire in one of the Swiss national languages had significantly worse scores than others. A significant lower QMNC was also found for young and primiparous women and for those who experienced cesarean or instrumental vaginal birth. Conclusion Women giving birth in Switzerland during the pandemic reported notable gaps in QMNC. Providers should be attuned to women who are younger, primiparous, and those who had an emergency cesarean or instrumental vaginal birth given the lower QMNC reported by these groups. Women who did not respond in a Swiss national language may need improved communication strategies.

show abstract

Receiving maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of women’s partners and support persons

Cited by 67 publications

References 31 publications

“Any advice for a pre-dad who is freaking out?”: A qualitative analysis of paternal perinatal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic using the reddit forum predaddit

“Any advice for a pre-dad who is freaking out?”: A qualitative analysis of paternal perinatal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic using the reddit forum predaddit

COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions of maternity care consumers and providers in Australia

Quality of maternal and newborn care in Switzerland during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study based on WHO quality standards

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About