Restricted Visitation During the Pandemic and Its Effect on Patient Satisfaction With Breastfeeding

Abstract

Quality Improvement PostersIntroductionDuring the COVID 19 pandemic, there were necessary restrictions on hospital visitation. The California Department of Public Health advised that visitation in the maternity unit be limited to one support person. Before the pandemic, our visitation policy allowed unlimited visitors throughout the day. During the pandemic the couplet care staff received comments from patients who had previously given birth in a hospital expressing greater satisfaction with their breastfeeding experience as a result of the more restrictive visitation.MethodsA patient survey was created to help determine satisfaction levels in patients in terms of with their breastfeeding experience and the effect restricted visitation had on their breastfeeding experience. The survey questions were divided to identify patients who had previously given birth in a hospital and those who had not. The patients were asked to rate their breastfeeding experience on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being extremely satisfied with their experience and the visitation restrictions and 1 being not at all satisfied.ResultsTwo hundred and nineteen patients responded to the survey: 137 had previously given birth in a hospital and 82 had not. On the rating scale, 56 patients who had previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10 and 108 rated it 6 or above. Thirty eight patients who had not previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10, and 66 rated it 6 or above.Discussion/ConclusionAfter the pandemic, it will be important for us to take the results of the survey into consideration when deciding on our visitation policy. We are following this survey up with a survey being presented to all patients that asks what type of restrictions they would prefer. The choices are one support person only, one support person plus an additional visitor, one support person and two additional visitors, or unlimited visitation. The results of the survey so far have shown a definite preference for the first 2 choices. Quality Improvement PostersIntroductionDuring the COVID 19 pandemic, there were necessary restrictions on hospital visitation. The California Department of Public Health advised that visitation in the maternity unit be limited to one support person. Before the pandemic, our visitation policy allowed unlimited visitors throughout the day. During the pandemic the couplet care staff received comments from patients who had previously given birth in a hospital expressing greater satisfaction with their breastfeeding experience as a result of the more restrictive visitation.MethodsA patient survey was created to help determine satisfaction levels in patients in terms of with their breastfeeding experience and the effect restricted visitation had on their breastfeeding experience. The survey questions were divided to identify patients who had previously given birth in a hospital and those who had not. The patients were asked to rate their breastfeeding experience on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being extremely satisfied with their experience and the visitation restrictions and 1 being not at all satisfied.ResultsTwo hundred and nineteen patients responded to the survey: 137 had previously given birth in a hospital and 82 had not. On the rating scale, 56 patients who had previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10 and 108 rated it 6 or above. Thirty eight patients who had not previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10, and 66 rated it 6 or above.Discussion/ConclusionAfter the pandemic, it will be important for us to take the results of the survey into consideration when deciding on our visitation policy. We are following this survey up with a survey being presented to all patients that asks what type of restrictions they would prefer. The choices are one support person only, one support person plus an additional visitor, one support person and two additional visitors, or unlimited visitation. The results of the survey so far have shown a definite preference for the first 2 choices. IntroductionDuring the COVID 19 pandemic, there were necessary restrictions on hospital visitation. The California Department of Public Health advised that visitation in the maternity unit be limited to one support person. Before the pandemic, our visitation policy allowed unlimited visitors throughout the day. During the pandemic the couplet care staff received comments from patients who had previously given birth in a hospital expressing greater satisfaction with their breastfeeding experience as a result of the more restrictive visitation. During the COVID 19 pandemic, there were necessary restrictions on hospital visitation. The California Department of Public Health advised that visitation in the maternity unit be limited to one support person. Before the pandemic, our visitation policy allowed unlimited visitors throughout the day. During the pandemic the couplet care staff received comments from patients who had previously given birth in a hospital expressing greater satisfaction with their breastfeeding experience as a result of the more restrictive visitation. MethodsA patient survey was created to help determine satisfaction levels in patients in terms of with their breastfeeding experience and the effect restricted visitation had on their breastfeeding experience. The survey questions were divided to identify patients who had previously given birth in a hospital and those who had not. The patients were asked to rate their breastfeeding experience on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being extremely satisfied with their experience and the visitation restrictions and 1 being not at all satisfied. A patient survey was created to help determine satisfaction levels in patients in terms of with their breastfeeding experience and the effect restricted visitation had on their breastfeeding experience. The survey questions were divided to identify patients who had previously given birth in a hospital and those who had not. The patients were asked to rate their breastfeeding experience on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being extremely satisfied with their experience and the visitation restrictions and 1 being not at all satisfied. ResultsTwo hundred and nineteen patients responded to the survey: 137 had previously given birth in a hospital and 82 had not. On the rating scale, 56 patients who had previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10 and 108 rated it 6 or above. Thirty eight patients who had not previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10, and 66 rated it 6 or above. Two hundred and nineteen patients responded to the survey: 137 had previously given birth in a hospital and 82 had not. On the rating scale, 56 patients who had previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10 and 108 rated it 6 or above. Thirty eight patients who had not previously given birth in a hospital rated their satisfaction with visitation restrictions at a 10, and 66 rated it 6 or above. Discussion/ConclusionAfter the pandemic, it will be important for us to take the results of the survey into consideration when deciding on our visitation policy. We are following this survey up with a survey being presented to all patients that asks what type of restrictions they would prefer. The choices are one support person only, one support person plus an additional visitor, one support person and two additional visitors, or unlimited visitation. The results of the survey so far have shown a definite preference for the first 2 choices. After the pandemic, it will be important for us to take the results of the survey into consideration when deciding on our visitation policy. We are following this survey up with a survey being presented to all patients that asks what type of restrictions they would prefer. The choices are one support person only, one support person plus an additional visitor, one support person and two additional visitors, or unlimited visitation. The results of the survey so far have shown a definite preference for the first 2 choices.