VP31.25: The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on healthcare providers in the labour ward

Abstract

To assess the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 positivity in labour ward staff, deliveries, and total cases in the whole country. A retrospective cohort study was conducted between April 2020 and January 2021, until the vaccination started, at Ankara University School of Medicine, Obstetrics Unit. During the total study period of 36 weeks, the number of SARS-CoV-2 positive health care providers, deliveries, and total cases in the country was noted for each week, and the correlations were assessed. During the study period, a total of 92 staff worked in the labour ward, and 44 (47.8%) had SARS-CoV-2 at different time points. During the study period, a total of 1353 women were delivered at our unit, of whom 2.8% were positive for SARS-CoV-2. The period that the study conducted included one of the COVID-19 pandemic peaks (figure 1). The number of SARS-CoV-2 positive healthcare providers in the labour ward showed a significant correlation with both the total number of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients in Turkey (Spearman's rho: 0,565; P= 0.0003) and the number of SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnant women during the study period (Spearman's rho: 0,429; P= 0.009). The peak of SARS-CoV-2 positivity followed the total SARS-CoV-2 peak in Turkey rather than the number of SARS-CoV-2 positive deliveries. The number of SARS-CoV-2 positive healthcare providers showed a stronger correlation with the total cases in population than with the positive deliveries in our labour ward. It seems that the interaction in the labour ward is safer than the outside interaction of the population. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.