Impact of the Early COVID-19 Pandemic on the Quality of Obstetric Care in a Tertiary Care Center in Karachi, Pakistan

TL;DR

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced antenatal care visits and increased maternal complications in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, though care quality and satisfaction were maintained.

Contribution

This study provides empirical evidence of the indirect impact of the early pandemic on obstetric care quality in a private tertiary hospital in Pakistan.

Findings

Outpatient obstetric volumes decreased by 10% during the pandemic, with a 65% increase in clinic cancellations.

Primary postpartum hemorrhage cases increased significantly during the pandemic (p=0.035).

NICU admissions increased significantly (p=0.001), while patient satisfaction remained stable or improved.

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to assess the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on obstetric quality measures.

Materials and methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted at a private-sector tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Data were collected for specific antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care indicators during the initial six months of the COVID-19 phase (March to August 2020) and compared with baseline measures from the preceding six months before the COVID-19 phase (September 2019 to February 2020) using frequencies and percentages.

Results

During COVID-19, there was a 10% reduction (pre-COVID: 1041 and during COVID: 946) in outpatient obstetric volumes and a 65% increase (pre-COVID: 240 and during COVID: 396) in clinic cancellations, indicating a decreased influx of antenatal patients. Teleclinics served 8.3% (1429/18279) of the total obstetric patients during this period.

Marginal decreases were observed in spontaneous vaginal deliveries 1358 (44%) vs 1049 (42.4%) and labor induction rates 818 (26.6%) vs 606 (24.2%). Additionally, there was a slight increase in instrumental deliveries, 121 (3.9%) vs 114 (4.6%) during the COVID phase. However, these changes were not statistically significant. Similarly, no substantial impact was observed on elective and emergency C-sections.

Notably, there were more cases of primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) during the COVID-19 phase 36 (1.17%) vs 46 (1.86%), and these changes were statistically significant (p= 0.035). Similar trends were observed for eclampsia (p =0.05) and preeclampsia cases (p-value 0.074). However, other maternal morbidity indicators and intrauterine fetal deaths remained relatively unchanged. NICU admissions increased significantly (p=0.001), while early neonatal deaths remained unaffected. Patient satisfaction rates remained steady for inpatients and improved for outpatients during COVID-19.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic primarily affected antenatal volumes, neonatal admissions, and maternal morbidity indicators such as PPH, preeclampsia, and eclampsia. Despite the challenges, patient satisfaction and quality care standards were maintained during COVID-19 through new strategies and revised patient care processes.

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