In March 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused an international health crisis. In Catalonia, as in many other places, health services were overwhelmed and at risk of collapse, not only to respond to the damage caused by the new disease but to address other situations, such as care for pregnant women before, during and after labor. In this context, the measures adopted by the health services have altered the ways maternity care was conducted before the pandemic. There are even voices that denounce that the sexual and reproductive rights of women in pregnancy, labor and postpartum may have been subordinated to the demands of the pandemic management.
This research aims to analyze the changes that have taken place within the Catalonian health system during the different waves of the pandemic in the care of pregnant women before, during and after labor; as well as to gather women’s experiences of these changes. In order to achieve these goals, we have designed a survey aimed at women who have been pregnant and/or given birth between January 2018 and the autumn of 2021. The experience of women who went through motherhood before the pandemic will allow us to 1) collect data on maternity care services and women’s experiences prior to March 2020; and 2) compare the extent to which the pandemic has altered these services and experiences in contrast with the previous two years.
The research project also includes interviews with health personnel specialized in perinatal health with the aim of incorporating their reflections on the situation of the services and the conditions in which care has been provided.
The project has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya and is funded by the Ministry of Equality (Secretary of State for Equality and Against Gender Violence) and by the Secretariat of Universities and Research of the Department of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017SGR0657).