The social and healthcare professional support drawn upon by women antenatally during the COVID-19 pandemic: A recurrent, cross-sectional, thematic analysis

CONCLUSIONS: At T1, anxieties were ascribed to the exclusion of partners from routine care, and to perceived insensitivity and aggression from the public. For T2, insufficient Governmental transparency led to disillusionment, confusion, and anger. Covert workplace discrimination also caused distress at T2. Across timepoints: deteriorated mental wellbeing was attributed to depleted opportunities to interact socially and scaled back maternity care.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Recommendations are made to: protect maternal autonomy; improve quality of mental health and routine care signposting; prioritise parental community support in the re-opening of 'non-essential' services; prioritise the option for face-to-face appointments when safe and legal; and protecting the rights of working mothers.PMID:38608542 | DOI:10.1016/j.midw.2024.103995
Source: Midwifery - Category: Midwifery Authors: Source Type: research