Experiences of Dutch Midwives Regarding the Quality of Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study assessed how the quality of care during the COVID-19 pandemic has been experienced by Dutch midwives. At the beginning of May 2020, 15 Dutch midwives were interviewed during the first wave of the pandemic. The interviews included questions based on the value-based healthcare framework by Porter. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed according to recurrent themes using the directed content analysis approach. Key themes identified included high quality midwifery care, information provision, costs, under/over treatment, interprofessional collaboration, and shared decision making. The quality of midwifery care during the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced to be sufficient, given the challenging circumstances. The midwives experienced the lack of face-to-face check-ups to be problematic. Unclear information and lack of personal protective equipment caused stress and confusion, and they worked an additional 2–4 h per working day. Some pregnant women were hesitant to call or visit them when they thought something was wrong. The midwives perceived some advantages in using video or telephone calls. Considerations for future pandemics include an additional face-to-face check-up between 16 and 27 weeks of pregnancy and one postpartum visit. For post-pandemic care, providing a check-up through telephone or video call could be offered in certain cases.

“We always felt psychologically unstable”: A qualitative study of midwives' experiences in providing maternity care during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Tanzania

“…Additionally, a study done by Giorgi et al (2020) reported that frontline health workers including midwives experienced a variety of mental health challenges during COVID-19 outbreak including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disorders and fear which may affect the health service utilization which including maternal health services. Similarly, other studies found that the midwives were worried to transmit the infectious (COVID-19) to their family members (Hazfiarini et al, 2021;Hijdra et al, 2022). In line with this, even some pregnant women were scared to be infected with COVID-19, as a result they were decided to have home delivery that might have put them in danger of increased maternal morbidity or mortality.…”

experience of midwife in delivering the midwifery care of mental illness of pregnant women and post-partum during the pandemic of COVID-19

“…For future obstetric care during the pandemic, additional telephone checks and postpartum face-to-face visits are recommended to improve the quality of care. After the pandemic, it is recommended that the midwifery care schedule be restored to its pre-pandemic state (Hijdra et al, 2022). Midwives can help with therapy by talking to a psychiatrist and monitoring pregnant women.…”

Midwives' experiences with providing home‐based postpartum care during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

“…According to a Norwegian white paper on quality of care and patient safety (Meld. St. 11, 2020 with the pandemic (Ardebili et al, 2021;Hijdra et al, 2022). These studies revealed the fear held by the healthcare professionals in being a carrier of the virus and thus infecting patients, colleagues and their own families (Ardebili et al, 2021;.…”