Quality of facility-based maternal and newborn care around the time of childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic: online survey investigating maternal perspectives in 12 countries of the WHO European Region.

Marzia Lazzerini ORCID logo ; Benedetta Covi ; Ilaria Mariani ; Zalka Drglin ; Maryse Arendt ; Ingvild Hersoug Nedberg ; Helen Elden ; Raquel Costa ; Daniela Drandić ; Jelena Radetić ; +24 more... Marina Ruxandra Otelea ; Céline Miani ; Serena Brigidi ; Virginie Rozée ; Barbara Mihevc Ponikvar ; Barbara Tasch ; Sigrun Kongslien ; Karolina Linden ; Catarina Barata ; Magdalena Kurbanović ; Jovana Ružičić ; Stephanie Batram-Zantvoort ; Lara Martín Castañeda ; Elise de La Rochebrochard ; Anja Bohinec ; Eline Skirnisdottir Vik ; Mehreen Zaigham ; Teresa Santos ; Lisa Wandschneider ; Ana Canales Viver ; Amira Ćerimagić ; Emma Sacks ; Emanuelle Pessa Valente ; IMAgiNE EURO study group ; (2022) Quality of facility-based maternal and newborn care around the time of childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic: online survey investigating maternal perspectives in 12 countries of the WHO European Region. The Lancet regional health. Europe, 13. 100268-. ISSN 2666-7762 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100268
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BACKGROUND: Multi-country studies assessing the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as defined by WHO Standards, are lacking. METHODS: Women who gave birth in 12 countries of the WHO European Region from March 1, 2020 - March 15, 2021 answered an online questionnaire, including 40 WHO Standard-based Quality Measures. FINDINGS: 21,027 mothers were included in the analysis. Among those who experienced labour (N=18,063), 41·8% (26·1%- 63·5%) experienced difficulties in accessing antenatal care, 62% (12·6%-99·0%) were not allowed a companion of choice, 31·1% (16·5%-56·9%) received inadequate breastfeeding support, 34·4% (5·2%-64·8%) reported that health workers were not always using protective personal equipment, and 31·8% (17·8%-53·1%) rated the health workers' number as "insufficient". Episiotomy was performed in 20·1% (6·1%-66·0%) of spontaneous vaginal births and fundal pressure applied in 41·2% (11·5% -100%) of instrumental vaginal births. In addition, 23·9% women felt they were not treated with dignity (12·8%-59·8%), 12·5% (7·0%-23·4%) suffered abuse, and 2·4% (0·1%-26·2%) made informal payments. Most findings were significantly worse among women with prelabour caesarean birth (N=2,964). Multivariate analyses confirmed significant differences among countries, with Croatia, Romania, Serbia showing significant lower QMNC Indexes and Luxemburg showing a significantly higher QMNC Index than the total sample. Younger women and those with operative births also reported significantly lower QMNC Indexes. INTERPRETATION: Mothers reports revealed large inequities in QMNC across countries of the WHO European Region. Quality improvement initiatives to reduce these inequities and promote evidence-based, patient-centred respectful care for all mothers and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond are urgently needed. FUNDING: The study was financially supported by the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy. STUDY REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04847336.


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