Abstract
Pregnancy-related deaths and disorders remain a problem globally, claiming millions of women's and infants' lives. It is vital for pregnant women to attend antenatal care clinics as soon as they find out about their pregnancy. The COVID-
19 pandemic posed challenges for countries to maintain the provision of high
quality, essential maternal and new-born health services, as pregnant women might
experience difficulties accessing services due to transport disruption and lockdown measures. Pregnant women might also be reluctant to go to health facilities due to
fear of infection. It is unclear how pregnant women experienced attending antenatal
and natal services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The purpose of this study was to understand and explore the experiences of
pregnant women regarding their visits to antenatal and natal care services during
COVID-19, using a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual research
design.
Purposive sampling was used for pregnant women attending antenatal and natal
care services during COVID-19. In-depth individual audio recorded interviews were used to collect data, and the central question posed to the participants was: ‘’How
is it for you to attend antenatal care services and to deliver during COVID-19?’’ Data
were transcribed verbatim, and analysis of data was done using Giorgi’s five steps
of coding.
The ethical standards of research were adhered to, namely privacy and confidentiality, risk and benefits, and gatekeepers. Trustworthiness was ensured by applying principles of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
The possible outcome of this research was to gain an understanding of the experiences of pregnant women attending antenatal care services during the
COVID-19 pandemic that could benefit the organisation and management of such
services, facilitating optimal care to pregnant women.
The findings from this research were described according to the themes determined through data analysis. The themes and categories were as follows:
Theme One indicated that participants experienced challenges at the health centre
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during COVID-19 when seeking antenatal and delivery care. Theme Two was that the participants spoke about the fear of contracting COVID-19
during antenatal. Theme Three consisted of participants sharing their unique support needs during pregnancy, which were emphasised during COVID-19.