Preterm birth during the COVID‐19 pandemic: parental experience

Abstract

The pandemic arising from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) known as COVID-19 has had wide reaching primary and secondary health implications.1 At the end of March 2020, in order to slow the rate of infection, the United Kingdom (UK) government implemented a strict lockdown including; the closure of schools, workplaces and restrictions on outdoor movements other than for exercise or essential shopping, which lasted until early June 2020. During this period, the National Health Service (NHS) experienced cessation of many services, whilst others imposed changes to reduce visitors and footfall on hospital sites. This included stringent and restrictive measures as to how women gave birth in addition to how Neonatal Services operated. In April 2020, the British Society of Perinatal Medicine published extensive guidance on reducing the transmission and spread of COVID-19 amongst families and their newborns.2 As a result, all non-essential maternity care stopped, with in-person appointments changed to telephone or video consultations. Strict social distancing measures were implemented by units around the country by limiting partners of women to attend births (with many women giving birth alone except from the care of healthcare professionals), as well as reducing parental access to infants, particularly those born preterm or unwell, with only one parent at a time allowed by the cot side and no additional visits from the immediate or extended family. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences, information and support needs and decision making of parents with a preterm or unwell neonate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Identifiers

ORCID for N Collaço: orcid.org/0000-0003-1398-9105

ORCID for MJ Johnson: orcid.org/0000-0003-1829-9912

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