Women's experiences of maternity service reconfiguration during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative investigation
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore women's experiences of maternity service reconfiguration during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. DESIGN: Qualitative interview study. SETTING: South London, United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS: Women (N=23) who gave birth between March and August 2020 in one of the ten South London maternity hospitals. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted (N=23), via video-conferencing software. Transcribed interviews were analysed 'by hand' using Microsoft Word. Template analysis was selected to code, analyse, and interpret data, according to the findings of a recently-published national survey of maternity service reconfiguration across the UK in response to COVID-19. FINDINGS: Three main themes emerged through analysis: (i) Disruption to In-Person Care and Increased Virtual Care Provision, (ii) Changes to Labour and Birth Preferences and Plans, (iii) Advice for Navigating Maternity Services During a Pandemic. KEY CONCLUSIONS: Women reported mixed views on the reduction in scheduled in-person appointments. The increase in remote care, especially via telephone, was not well endorsed by women. Furthermore, women reported an under-reliance on healthcare professionals for support, rather turning to family. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: We provide insight into the experiences of women who received antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings should inform healthcare policy to build back better maternity care services after the pandemic.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted maternity care provision.
“Given the negative impact of both pregnancy loss and perinatal death [3, 4], and the pandemic on maternity care provision [5, 6], investigation of how bereaved parents have experienced reconfigured services is crucial to future learning, providing important insights for service provision.”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
Reports show devalued care for perinatal women receiving maternity care during the pandemic.
“For perinatal women receiving maternity care, we have already seen reports of devalued care [5], poor psycho-social outcomes [6, 24], and worrying projections suggesting rates of stillbirth are expected to double globally [25].”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
In the UK, maternity care changes during the pandemic have been consistently monitored and guidance and service provision have been frequently adapted.
“In the UK, these changes have been consistently monitored [23] and guidance as well as service provision has been frequently adapted in an attempt to augment care [5, 21–23].”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
During the pandemic, there has been a notable reduction of face-to-face care, with an increased reliance on virtual care, or the total removal of maternity care altogether.
“However, during this pandemic, there has been a notable reduction of face-to-face care, with an increased reliance on virtual care, or the total removal of maternity care altogether [5, 6, 23]”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
Women frequently reported detrimental effects of increased virtual care and decreased face-to-face care during the pandemic.
“As in other research about maternity care during the pandemic [5, 6], women frequently reported the detrimental effects of increased virtual care and decreased face-to-face care.”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
This often rendered bereavement care impersonal.
“This often rendered bereavement care impersonal, which is again reminiscent of women’s entire journeys through pregnancy and childbirth from what we know from other research conducted during the pandemic [5, 6, 31, 32].”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
Many parents in this study commented on separations whereby partners had to remain in cars while women sought care.
“Many parents in this study commented on these types of separation whereby partners had to remain in cars whilst women sought care, which has similarly been reported in other such maternity care studies [5].”
From Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for parents who suffered perinatal bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
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- Authors
- Silverio, S. A., De Backer, K., Easter, A., von Dadelszen, P., Magee, L. A., & Sandall, J.
- Affiliations
- St Thomas' Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Silverio, Sergio A.
- Venue
- Midwifery
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-11
- Volume
- 102
- Pages
- 103116
- ISSN
- 0266-6138 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9756856
- OpenAlex
- W3187122188
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 18.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Midwifery (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Liverpool John Moores University (acceptedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR‐INF‐2170, COVID-19, NIHR200306)
- Department of Health and Social Care (COVID-19)
- King's College London (204823/Z/16/Z)
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › COVID-19 and healthcare impacts
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, women's experiences, virtual care, telephone care, prenatal care, intrapartum care, postpartum care, family support, healthcare policy, South London
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Maternal Health Services, Pregnancy, Telemedicine, Qualitative Research, Pregnant People, Pregnant Women, Pandemics
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