Perceptions of pregnant women on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine associated risks

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 impacted the health and life of many people affecting certain special populations more than others. The main objective of this study was to analyze the perception of pregnant women in the UAE on COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 vaccination, harassment, discrimination, and health risks. Materials & Methods: The study design was exploratory cross-sectional research. A Google Form survey was created and circulated to pregnant or recently pregnant women in the United Arab Emirates. The survey elements were harassment, discrimination, and health risks perceived by pregnant women related to their pregnancy and COVID-19 infection. Alpha value was set at 0.05. SPSS version 26 (Armonk, NY) was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 117 pregnant women completed the survey. Among the 117, 63% of the pregnant women were fully vaccinated with at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccination. Less of the fully vaccinated pregnant women contracted COVID-19 while being pregnant (p-value <0.05). Pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 had a statistically significant increase (p-value <0.05)in their perceived harassment, discrimination and risk to health/welfare. More of these negative factors were on the fully vaccinated but still contracted with COVID-19 group and least with fully vaccinated who did not contract COVID-19 when they were pregnant. Conclusions: Perceptions of pregnant women on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines showed concerns that needs to be studied further. Perceived health issues related to the infection and vaccine need multifaceted interventions.