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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe birth satisfaction in women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-July 2020)., Study Design and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 747 postpartum women who gave birth in the United States during the early COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. Participants in the United were recruited via social media. They completed a questionnaire that included demographic, health, and obstetric experience questions, and the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) models, and nonparametric correlations were performed., Results: Higher birth satisfaction scores were associated with higher income, marriage, white race, vaginal birth, having a birth partner present, and sufficient support during birth. Factors negatively associated with birth satisfaction were separation from infant, unplanned cesarean birth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, hypertension, preeclampsia, hemorrhage, depression, and anxiety., Clinical Implications: Presence of birth partners, sufficient birth support, and minimizing separation of mother and infant improve birth satisfaction. Obstetric complications, including unplanned cesarean birth, negatively affect birth satisfaction. There are racial disparities in birth satisfaction. It is critical to develop further interventions to end racism in maternal health care., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth satisfaction and perceived health care discrimination during childbirth, and in turn, the influence of these birth experiences on postpartum health., Study Design: We conducted a cross-sectional, bilingual web survey of 237 women who gave birth at two hospitals in New York City and assessed patient-reported experience and outcomes following the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the New York region. We ascertained SARS-CoV-2 status at delivery from the electronic medical record using participant-reported name and date of birth. We compared birth experience during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 15, 2020-May 11, 2020) to a pre-pandemic response period (January 1, 2020-March 14, 2020). We estimated risk ratios for associations between birth experience and anxiety, depressive symptoms, stress, birth-related PTSD, emergency department visits, timely postpartum visit, and exclusive breastfeeding. Multivariable models adjusted for age, race-ethnicity, insurance, education, parity, BMI, previous experience of maltreatment/abuse and cesarean delivery., Results: Women who gave birth during the peak of the pandemic response, and those that were SARS-CoV-2 positive, Black, and Latina, had lower birth satisfaction and higher perceived health care discrimination. Women with lower birth satisfaction were more likely to report higher postpartum anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms, and lower exclusive breastfeeding. Experiencing one or more incident of health care discrimination was associated with higher levels of postpartum stress and birth-related PTSD., Conclusion: Hospitals and policy-makers should institute measures to safeguard against a negative birth experience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among birthing people of color.