Search

Objective: To explore the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic by facility type among 16 European countries, comparing rates of instrumental vaginal birth and cesarean., Methods: Women who gave birth in the WHO European Region from March 1, 2020, to February 7, 2022, answered a validated online questionnaire. Rates of instrumental birth, instrumental vaginal birth, and cesarean, and a QMNC index were calculated for births in public versus private facilities., Results: Responses from 25 206 participants were analyzed. Women giving birth in private compared with public facilities reported significantly more frequent total cesarean (32.5% vs 19.0%; aOR 1.70; 95% CI 1.52-1.90), elective cesarean (17.3% vs 7.8%; aOR 1.90; 95% CI 1.65-2.19), and emergency cesarean before labor (7.4% vs 3.9%; aOR 1.39; 95% CI 1.14-1.70) (P < 0.001 for all comparisons), with analyses by country confirming these results. QMNC index results were heterogeneous across countries and regions in the same country and were largely affected by geographical distribution of regions rather than by type of facility alone., Conclusion: The study confirms that births in private facilities have higher odds of cesarean. It also suggests that QMNC should be closely monitored in all facilities to achieve high-quality care, independent of facility type or geographical distribution., Gov Identifier: NCT04847336., (© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

Objective: To investigate potential associations between individual and country-level factors and medicalization of birth in 15 European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: Online anonymous survey of women who gave birth in 2020-2021. Multivariable multilevel logistic regression models estimating associations between indicators of medicalization (cesarean, instrumental vaginal birth [IVB], episiotomy, fundal pressure) and proxy variables related to care culture and contextual factors at the individual and country level., Results: Among 27 173 women, 24.4% (n = 6650) had a cesarean and 8.8% (n = 2380) an IVB. Among women with IVB, 41.9% (n = 998) reported receiving fundal pressure. Among women with spontaneous vaginal births, 22.3% (n = 4048) had an episiotomy. Less respectful care, as perceived by the women, was associated with higher levels of medicalization. For example, women who reported having a cesarean, IVB, or episiotomy reported not feeling treated with dignity more frequently than women who did not have those interventions (odds ratio [OR] 1.37; OR 1.61; OR 1.51, respectively; all: P < 0.001). Country-level variables contributed to explaining some of the variance between countries., Conclusion: We recommend a greater emphasis in health policies on promotion of respectful and patient-centered care approaches to birth to enhance women's experiences of care, and the development of a European-level indicator to monitor medicalization of reproductive care., (© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

Objective: To assess women's perceptions of the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) received in hospitals in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic by mode of birth., Methods: A validated anonymous online questionnaire based on WHO quality measures. Subgroup analysis of spontaneous vaginal birth (SVB), emergency cesarean, and elective cesarean and multivariate analyses were performed, and QMNC indexes were calculated. Maternal age, educational level, year of birth, mother born in Romania, parity, type of hospital, and type of professionals assisting the birth were used for multivariate analysis., Results: A total of 620 women completed the survey. Overall, several quality measures suggested gaps in QMNC in Romania, with the lowest QMNC indexes reported for provision of care and availability of resources. Women who had either elective or emergency cesarean compared with those who had SVB more frequently lacked early breastfeeding (OR 2.04 and 2.13, respectively), skin-to-skin contact (OR 1.73 and 1.75, respectively), rooming-in (OR 2.07 and 1.96, respectively), and exclusive breastfeeding at discharge (OR 2.27 and 1.64, respectively). Compared with elective cesarean, emergency cesarean had higher odds of ineffective communication by healthcare providers (OR 1.65), lack of involvement in choices (OR 1.58), insufficient emotional support (OR 2.07), and no privacy (OR 2.06). Compared with other modes of birth, a trend for lower QMNC indexes for emergency cesarean was observed for all domains, while for elective cesarean the QMNC index for provision of care was significantly lower., Conclusion: Quality indicators of perinatal care remain behind targets in Romania, with births by cesarean the most affected., Gov Identifier: NCT04847336., (© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)