Pregnancy During COVID-19 Outbreak: The Impact of Lockdown in a Middle-Income Country on Antenatal Healthcare and Wellbeing

INTRODUCTION: Since the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a major worldwide health threat, countries have implemented preventative measures to limit the spread of the disease and reduce the strain on their health services. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is one of the countries where relatively strict lockdown measures were enforced. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the lockdown circumstances in Jordan on antenatal care services and health circumstances of pregnant women during this period. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: This study involved a cross-sectional survey of Jordanian women who are currently pregnant. An electronic survey was distributed among pregnant women in Jordan. A total of 944 completed responses were returned and analyzed. The sample size was statistically determined to be representative of the population. RESULTS: The results revealed a significant increase in the percentage of pregnant women not receiving antenatal care from 4% to 59.53% (p<0.001) during the lockdown period, despite the fact that some of these women were suffering from significant underlying medical conditions or serious pregnancy complications that require close antenatal surveillance. The survey also demonstrated that the lockdown circumstances impacted the physical, social, and mental wellbeing of the participants. CONCLUSION: Although the lockdown measures in Jordan have succeeded so far in relative containment of COVID-19, this research suggests that significant disruption to antenatal services has occurred and that the lockdown has affected the wellbeing of pregnant women in a number of aspects, which has the potential to cause antenatal health issues that are not directly related to the spread of COVID-19, but rather are a side effect of the way in which the outbreak is managed.