Investigation on demands for antenatal care services among 2 002 pregnant women during the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 in Shanghai

Objective To identify problems and demands for antenatal care (ANC) among pregnant women in different trimesters of pregnancy in Shanghai for optimizing ANC service during the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods Organized by Maternal and Child Health Care institute in the 16 districts of Shanghai, a cross sectional study was conducted among pregnant women who came to pregnancy registration in the community health centers or attended ANC in maternity hospitals from February 7 to February 12, 2020. Consented participating women completed a semi-structured online questionnaire voluntarily. Data was analyzed using frequency and scoring, chi-square test. Results A total of 2 002 valid questionnaires were collected from 183 community health centers and 67 midwifery hospitals. About 94.6% of the pregnant women worried about being infected during the COVID-19 epidemic, and 14.7% demanded for psychological consultation. Appointment ANC services were requested by 87.7% of the participants for avoiding presenting themselves in people-density places. Compared with other pregnancy trimesters, pregnant women in the second trimester were more willing to reduce the frequency of ANC (48.1% VS. 39.5% VS. 35.2%, P u003c0.01). Compared with multiparas, primiparas were more willing to have online consultation and guidance (63.8% VS. 49.2%, P u003c0.01). Regarding the needs for health knowledge on COVID-19, personal protection against 2019-nCoV was the most concerned for pregnant women, and 71.0% of them preferred to obtain knowledge through health applications, official Weibo and WeChat. Conclusions Pregnant women in Shanghai critically concern about the risk of 2019-nCoV infections, and highly demand knowledge and measures on prevention and protection from COVID-19. They ask for having time-lapse appointments for ANC and online access to health information and services. Maternal and Child Care institutes should understand the demands of pregnant women, optimize the means of ANC service, and provide tailored and accessible health education and service for the safety of mother and child.