Covid-19 outbreak and decreased hospitalisation of pregnant women in labour – Indian rural tertiary care hospital experience

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal health and covid 19 is an important factor with respect to the healthcare facility in India. With the covid 19 and lockdown enforcement, it gave a new complex situation in maternal health and management.

Objective: To find out hospitalization among women with labor and requiring obstetric care during covid 19 outbreaks in India with respect to previous non covid period.

Method: A retrospective analysis of pregnant women in an integrated tertiary care medical college in eastern India during the 10 weeks after lockdown (March - June, 2020; lockdown was imposed on March 25, 2020) and compared the findings with a control period of the march to June 2019, 2018 and 2017 before lockdown.

Results: During lockdown period total delivery was 3718(in 2020) which is way less than pre lockdown period of previous years, i.e. 2017-2019, which is 4875, 4194, 4161 in 2017, 2018, 2019 respectively. It is statistically significant (P=0.006093) Among the pregnant women from the lockdown period, 35.39% underwent a caesarean section, which was significantly higher than the rate during the pre-lockdown period.

Discussion: These findings of substantially reduced numbers of pregnant females hospitalised for labour management at tertiary care hospitals suggest that the number of unattended deliveries and those at lower-level facilities has increased. Immense media coverage along with stay-at-home and physical distancing advice from public health officials during 1^st phase of the pandemic might have led to hospital-avoiding behaviour among pregnant females even before the implementation of the lockdown.