The Impacts of COVID-19 on US Maternity Care Practices: A Followup Study.
Front Sociol
; 6: 655401, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1278475
ABSTRACT
This article extends the findings of a rapid response article researched in April 2020 to illustrate how providers' practices and attitudes toward COVID-19 had shifted in response to better evidence, increased experience, and improved guidance on how SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 impacted maternity care in the United States. This article is based on a review of current labor and delivery guidelines in relation to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, and on an email survey of 28 community-based and hospital-based maternity care providers in the United State, who discuss their experiences and clients' needs in response to a rapidly shifting landscape of maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of our respondents are obstetricians, while the other two-thirds include midwives, doulas, and labor and delivery nurses. We present these providers' frustrations and coping mechanisms in shifting their practices in relation to COVID-19. The primary lessons learned relate to improved testing and accessing PPE for providers and clients; the need for better integration between community- and hospital-based providers; and changes in restrictive protocols concerning labor support persons, rooming-in with newborns, immediate skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding. We conclude by suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic offers a transformational moment to shift maternity care in the United States toward a more integrated and sustainable model that might improve provider and maternal experiences as well as maternal and newborn outcomes.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Sociol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fsoc.2021.655401
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