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?:abstract
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COVID-19 restrictive measures severely impacted maternity services worldwide, but little is known about the differences in womens concerns, perception of the modifications of maternity services and childbirth programs at different times during the pandemic. Here we report data from the first COVID-19 wave in Italy, during the 2020 national lockdown (March-April) and soon after lockdown release (May). 1307 pregnant women answered the survey during national lockdown (phase 1) or after restrictive measures were released (phase 2). Women reported a significantly higher COVID-19 concern during phase 1 than during phase 2 (2.34 SD 0.5 vs 2.12 SD 0.5 on a Likert scale 0-3; p<0.001). Several domains of perinatal care were affected during COVID-19 lockdown: while antenatal visits, the use of technology to keep in touch with healthcare professionals, and closeness of caregivers were generally more appreciated (especially during phase 2), women reported the greatest difficulties in receiving clear information on hospitalization, birth plan and partners presence at birth. Italian pregnant womens worries about the effects of the pandemic on health and their perception of quality in the organization of maternity services improved during lockdown, but they continued to represent a challenge in May, especially regarding organizational aspects of hospitalization and childbirth.
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