The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on maternal and neonatal health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of COVID-19 national lockdowns on maternal and neonatal health outcomes in England and Wales: a mixed-methods study (COV-Mat)
IRAS ID
311783
Contact name
Stamatina Iliodromiti
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The COVID-19 national lockdowns had various impacts on pregnancy and birth. During lockdowns, studies reported worsening in maternal mental health, and increases in stillbirths, while also reporting reductions in preterm births and neonatal admissions. Researchers hypothesized that these changes in birth outcomes were due to lockdown's impact on the lifestyles and social environments of pregnant women. Therefore, this study proposes a mixed-methods investigation of the impact of lockdowns on maternal and neonatal health outcomes in a population of mothers from England and Wales.
The maternal and neonatal outcomes of interest include but are not limited to: prolonged stay in hospital, readmission to hospital, maternal mental health, stillbirth, and preterm birth.
The overall aim of the project is to assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on maternal and foetal/neonatal outcomes in different groups of women in England and Wales.
First quantitative research will use anonymized routinely collected NHS birth and pregnancy data to analyze rates of outcomes during lockdowns compared to pre-pandemic, rates of outcomes during lockdowns in different ethnicity and deprivation groups, and statistical models of these relationships. Participants will consist of all women who gave birth between the years 2018-2021, were not infected with COVID-19, and were recorded anonymously in NHS Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) datasets.
Thereafter, semi-structured interviews will be conducted over four months to ascertain the lived experiences of pregnancy in lockdown. We aim to recruit 20-30 participants, 10-20 women who were pregnant over lockdown, and 5-10 health practitioners who worked over the lockdown periods. Women who had COVID-19 infections during pregnancy will not be included. An hour-long interview will be conducted per participant, either via teleconferencing, in a public space convenient to the participant, or in a Queen Mary University office. Follow-up phone-call interviews will be scheduled if needed for clarification.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SW/0154
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion