The experience of women who delivered during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium: a retrospective study.

Background: The lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed some restrictions on hospital activities, requiring medical staff to find efficient alternatives to ensure adequate medical care for patients.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the experience of pregnant women who delivered during the first wave of COVID-19, and to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions.

Study Design: This was a retrospective multicenter study. All pregnant women who delivered a live infant between March 20, 2020 and June 20, 2020 were evaluated using a 35-item survey at 1 year following delivery. Each patient was contacted via 3 modalities. Patients who reported that their prenatal follow-up was interrupted were compared with those who reported that their prenatal follow-up was unchanged. Among 1096 patients who delivered a live infant across the 3 participating centers during the study period, 389 responses were needed for an estimated margin of error of 4%.

Results: A total of 469 of 1096 (42.8%) patients answered the survey, of whom 151 (32.2%) reported that the follow-up of their pregnancy was interrupted (exposed group) and 318 (67.8%) reported that their follow-up was maintained as normal (unexposed group). The rate of presentation to the emergency department was higher in the exposed group than in the unexposed group (=.001). The level of dissatisfaction was also higher in the exposed group, and patients in this group would have postponed their pregnancy if they had known about the pandemic in advance (<.001 and =.001, respectively).

Conclusion: Interruption and modification of antenatal follow-up in pregnant women is associated with patient dissatisfaction and increased presentation to the emergency department.