Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this national survey was to explore pregnant women’s perceptions of COVID-19 and their healthcare experiences.MethodsThrough patient and public involvement, a questionnaire was developed and advertised via the BBC website, Twitter and other online media during May 2020. The findings were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis. Women who are currently pregnant, or who have delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic were invited to partake in a national online survey.ResultsOne thousand four hundred fifty-one participants replied to the online questionnaire. Participants provided significant insight into the perceived barriers to seeking healthcare during this pandemic. These include ‘not wanting to bother anyone’, ‘lack of wider support from allied healthcare workers’ and the influence of the media. Other concerns included the use of virtual clinics antenatally and their acceptability to patients, the presence of birthing partners, and the way in which information is communicated about rapidly changing and evolving services. The influence of the media has also had a significant impact on the way women perceive hospital care in light of COVID-19 and for some, this has shaped whether they would seek help.ConclusionsThis is the first ever reported study in the United Kingdom to explore pregnant women’s perceptions of COVID-19 and their subsequent healthcare experiences. It has also provided insight into perceived barriers into seeking care as well as maternal concerns antenatally, intrapartum and postpartum.
Highlights
The aim of this national survey was to explore pregnant women’s perceptions of COVID-19 and their healthcare experiences
Analysis of data The findings from the free text questions were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis [5–7] and the findings were contextualised to the clinical setting by all five authors on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Other important information obtained from participants showed that 2% were diagnosed with COVID-19, 6% had a family member diagnosed with COVID-19 in the same household and 58% were self-isolating due to government advice and personal anxieties about ‘catching the virus’
Summary
Ethical approval was obtained from the University of East Anglia (reference 2019/20–06). Analysis of data The findings from the free text questions were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis [5–7] and the findings were contextualised to the clinical setting by all five authors on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The open-ended questions were analysed by thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is used to analyse opened-ended data (for example from a survey or interview) to identify and generate patterns from within it (called themes). This involved becoming familiar with the data set (reading the responses and understanding them), creating initial codes (attaching labels to different sections of the text), generating themes based on the respective codes (by grouping different codes together) and applying this to the context of our study question [7]
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