The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Prenatal Care Clinics; Late Diagnosis?

Year 2022, , 77 - 84, 01.01.2022

Serenat Yalçın , Hasan Sayal

https://doi.org/10.53493/avrasyasbd.915837

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has an effect on the healthcare system and prenatal care units as well. Our goal is to identify the points where antenatal care was interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the reasons for disruption, and to discuss possible measures in this regard.
Methods: This study is a retrospective cross-sectional study which compiles cases who presented to our perinatology clinic for a period of 6 months after the COVID-19 infection was first detected in our country and were diagnosed late, despite the fact that they could have been diagnosed earlier based on their condition.
Results: The study included 22 cases of delayed diagnosis. When the reasons for missing the antenatal follow-ups of the cases were examined, nine of them (40.9%) were afraid of being infected in the hospital environment, eight of them (36.3%) could not follow the procedures due to long-distance travel restrictions, four of them (18.1) were on the contact list during the antenatal follow-up period, and one of them (4.5%) escaped the follow-up to because their doctor was infected.
Conclusion: COVID-19 outbreak has been found to drastically minimize the number of face-to-face visits. Prenatal care facilities were also found to be underutilized during the pandemic, possibly due to travel limitations, fear of infection, and contaminated healthcare staff. As a result, efforts to improve maternal health programs are suggested. A variety of information, education, and communication materials can be created to raise awareness about the care of pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

COVID-19, outpatient visits, prenatal care

COVID 19 salgınının prenatal bakım kliniklerindeki etkisi; Geç teşhis?

Abstract

Amaç: Corona Virüs Hastalığı 19 (COVID-19) pandemisinin sağlık sistemi ve doğum öncesi bakım üniteleri üzerinde de etkisi vardır. Amacımız, COVID-19 salgını sırasında doğum öncesi bakımın kesintiye uğradığı noktaları ve bu kesintinin nedenlerini belirlemek ve bu konuda neler yapılabileceğini tartışmaktır.
Yöntemler: Bu çalışma, ülkemizde COVID-19 enfeksiyonu tespit edildikten sonraki ilk 6 ay içinde perinatoloji polikliniğimize başvuran ve daha erken tanı konabilecek olmasına rağmen geç tanı alan olguları derleyen retrospektif kesitsel bir çalışmadır.
Bulgular: Çalışmaya 22 geç tanı almış vaka dahil edildi. Olguların prenatal takiplerini kaçırma nedenleri sorgulandığında 9'u (%40,9) hastane ortamında enfeksiyon kapmaktan korkarken, 8'i (%36,3) şehirlerarası seyahat kısıtlamaları nedeniyle gereken prosedürleri takip edemedi, 4 (18,1) tanesi prenatal takip döneminde temaslı listesindeydi ve 1'i (%4,5) doktoru enfekte olduğu için takibini kaçırdı.
Sonuç: Genel olarak, COVID-19 salgınının yüz yüze ziyaret hacimlerini önemli ölçüde azalttığı gösterilmiştir. Salgın sırasında doğum öncesi bakım tesislerinin de muhtemelen seyahat kısıtlamaları, enfeksiyon korkusu ve kontamine sağlık personeli nedeniyle yetersiz kullanıldığı tespit edildi. Sonuç olarak, anne sağlığı programlarını iyileştirmeye yönelik çabalar önerilmektedir. COVID-19 salgını sırasında hamile kadınların bakımı hakkında farkındalık yaratmak için çeşitli bilgi, eğitim ve iletişim materyalleri oluşturulabilir.

Keywords

COVID-19, poliklinik ziyaretleri, doğum öncesi bakım

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