ABSTRACT
Objectives: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic requires multilevel comprehensive epidemic prevention measures from the central government to hospitals and from hospitals to departments in order to control it. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of infection control measures implemented by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Methods: Strategies were developed to deal with high-risk cases, newborn transportation, parental classes, and visits and companions. These strategies included early risk identification, infant exposure reduction, alternative health education tactics, and visitor management. Results: In 2020, 16 high-risk patients received care at our department. No confirmed COVID-19 cases and nosocomial infections were noted. Exclusive breastfeeding rate during the period of January to June 2020 was 44.8%, an increase of 1.3% and 1.5% over the same period in 2019 and 2018, respectively. The rooming-in rate was 7.7%, similar to that (7.5%) of the same period in 2019. Session-specific attendance rates in prenatal parenting classes were 4.4% for second semester and 4.7% for third semester expectant mothers;there was no significant change compared with the 2019 rates (4.5% and 4.6%). The attendance rate of expectant fathers was 1.8% for the second semester and 1.6% for the third semester, a decrease of 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively, compared with the 2019 rates. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: The infection control measures implemented for eariy risk identification, infant exposure reduction, alternative prenatal parenting education, and visitor management were effective as no COVID-19 case occurred and the quality of patient care and treatment was maintained. © 2021 Chinese Public Health Association of Taiwan. All rights reserved.