Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 21;24(1):3557.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20941-8.

Needs, rights and perspectives in the Birth Care Pathway during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: the BiSogni Study, an exploratory qualitative research

G Tambascia  1   2 , F Zambri  1 , M V Sola  3 , S Marocco  4 , V Di Stefano  5   6 , F Marchetti  7 , A Giusti  1
Affiliations

Needs, rights and perspectives in the Birth Care Pathway during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: the BiSogni Study, an exploratory qualitative research

G Tambascia et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: With the COVID-19 emergency, the provision of healthcare had to be reorganized. Community Health Services for Families of Trieste adopted new methods to ensure continuity of care and the maintenance of the Standards and Good Practices of the Baby Friendly Initiative of UNICEF for the Birth Care Pathway. The aim of the study was to identify the perceived needs of women, couples, caregivers, and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate new healthcare strategies, identifying weaknesses and strengths, and future developments.

Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative study, using online Focus Groups (FGs) with mothers, fathers, pregnant couples, grandparents, peer breastfeeding support mothers' groups, and healthcare professionals (HCPs). The sample was purposeful, selected through the district healthcare network. After obtaining participants' consent, FGs were recorded and fully transcribed. Transcripts underwent deductive and inductive categorical analysis using Nvivo12 software.

Results: Ten FGs were conducted with 86 participants. Situations of increased vulnerability were reported by women who experienced significant levels of loneliness during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first months of their child's life. Regarding healthcare pathways, inconsistencies in the information provided by healthcare services emerged, due to the lack of clear national guidelines for managing childbirth during the pandemic. A controversial healthcare practice was the widespread exclusion of partners from antenatal care, prenatal diagnostics, labour, delivery, and postnatal care. After a period of uncertainty and fear experienced by families and HCPs, significant improvements in the organisation of community and hospital services were described. This was aided by telemedicine, which re-established a sense of care and connection. Positive aspects of the lockdown included a major presence of fathers who could work from home, share daily life with their partners, and take care of their children.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 emergency has reshaped the provision of healthcare, even in the field of childbirth. Innovative methods have proven to effectively address new needs resulting from physical and social distancing. These strategies could promote sustainable organisational approaches for managing childbirth care. Our results highlighted how policies and practices for future healthcare emergencies could ensure adherence to best practices and promote patient's rights.

Keywords: Birth Care Pathway; COVID-19; Qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was submitted and approved by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Ethics Committee (CEUR- prot. n. 16724 del 20.05.2020). This included the approval of the Data Protection Office and GDPR adherence of the online web app. Before the commencement of the FGs, participants were provided with the privacy information form and signed the informed consent. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard | WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases?m49=380. Accessed 29 Dec 2020.
    1. DECRETO DEL PRESIDENTE DEL CONSIGLIO DEI MINISTRI 9 marzo 2020 Ulteriori disposizioni attuative del decreto-legge 23 febbraio 2020, n. 6, recante misure urgenti in materia di contenimento e gestione dell'emergenza epidemiologica da COVID-19, applicabili sull'intero territorio nazionale. (20A01558) (GU Serie Generale n.62 del 09–03–2020). https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2020/03/09/20A01558/sg.
    1. Salmaso S, Zambri F, Renzi M, Giusti A. Interrompere le catene di trasmissione di COVID-19 in Italia: indagine tra i Dipartimenti di prevenzione [Interrupting the chains of transmission of COVID-19 in Italy: survey among the Prevention Departments]. Epidemiol Prev. 2020;44(5–6 Suppl 2):33–41. Italian10.19191/EP20.5-6.S2.090PMID: 33412792 - PubMed
    1. Montagnoli C, Zanconato G, Ruggeri S, Cinelli G, Tozzi AE. Restructuring maternal services during the covid-19 pandemic: Early results of a scoping review for non-infected women. Midwifery. 2021;94:102916. 10.1016/j.midw.2020.102916. Epub 2020 Dec 26. PMID: 33412360; PMCID: PMC7832106. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thapa SB, Mainali A, Schwank SE, Acharya G. Maternal mental health in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 2020;99(7):817–8. 10.1111/aogs.13894. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources