Differences in obstetric healthcare utilization and delivery complications before and after the COVID-19 pandemic - a retrospective study.
J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med
; 35(25): 7194-7199, 2022 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1286514
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization related to labor and delivery and to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on intra-partum and delivery complications.METHODS:
This retrospective study was performed at a university-affiliated, tertiary medical center. It included women admitted to the delivery room from 1 March 2020 to 23 July 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were compared against women who were admitted to the delivery room during the same time period in 2019. The outcomes of 2701 deliveries during the pre-pandemic period were compared to those of 2668 deliveries during the pandemic period. Main outcomes were pregnancy and delivery outcomes.RESULTS:
The mean number of emergency department visits before admission for delivery was higher in the pre-pandemic period than in the pandemic period (2.3 ± 1.5 and 2.1 ± 1.3 visits, respectively; p < .01). There were no significant differences in other intra- and postpartum complications. The incidence of a prolonged third stage of labor was higher in the pre-pandemic than in the pandemic period (225 (10%) and 182 (8.1%), respectively; p = .03). The mean duration of post-partum maternal hospitalization was longer in the pre-pandemic than in the pandemic period (3.6 ± 0.9 and 3.4 ± 1.0 days, respectively; p < .01). Neonatal outcomes were comparable for Apgar scores, birth weight, and newborn intensive care unit admission for both periods; however, the mean duration of neonatal hospitalization was longer in the pre-pandemic than in the pandemic period (3.5 ± 3.2 and 3.2 ± 1.1 days, respectively; p < .01).CONCLUSIONS:
In our study population, in the presence of public and accessible obstetric medicine, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic did not affect pregnancy or early delivery outcomes.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Labor, Obstetric
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant, Newborn
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med
Journal subject:
Obstetrics
/
Perinatology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
14767058.2021.1946506
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