Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mode of delivery

Abstract

Aims: The first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 11th, 2020, in Turkey, and the measures taken by the state to prevent the spread of the virus were put on hold by March 2022. The purpose of this study is to present information with special focus on mode of delivery among pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to assess the effect of pandemic on the rates of normal vaginal delivery and C-section. Methods: This is a restrospective cohort study including all pregnant women at more than 20 weeks of gestation admitted to labour and delivery unit in an academic tertiary care hospital. Records of patients two years before the pandemic and two years of the pandemic were extracted. The number of pregnants admitted to the labour and delivery, the mode of delivery, selected method of anesthesia, total expenses of the patients, the length of hospital stay, indications for cesarian section were compared between the two periods. Results: A total of 9048 patients were identified, of which 4745 were before the pandemic and 4303 during the pandemic. The most striking finding was the decrease in C-section rates during pandemic which was mostly due to decrease in number of primary C-sections. The length of hospital stay was shorter during pandemic as well. The mean age, route of anesthetics, surgery length did not differ between the two groups. Conclusion: The available evidence on COVID-19’s potential impact on C-section rates is conflicting. Some suggest that there might be evidence indicating a possible link between COVID-19 and increased rates of C-section. However, this study showed that when all the deliveries are included pandemic caused a significant decrease in the rates of primary C-section which might be due to decreased interventions of the healthcare professionals.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Cesarean rate
• Vaginal delivery
• Birth outcomes
• Maternal health

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