Experiences of Urban Slum-Dwelling Women With Maternal and Child Health Services During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-City Qualitative Study From India

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic containment necessitated the diversion of substantial health care resources thus affecting the routine essential care, and posing barriers to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We explored the experiences of vulnerable communities—urban-slum-dwelling women regarding maternal and child health services during COVID-19. Methods: We conducted 48 in-depth interviews in four Indian states—12 in each state among urban-slum antenatal, intra-natal, and postnatal women. We used framework analysis. Results: Amidst the implementation of the mandatory stay-at-home, many women acknowledged that routine immunization services and antenatal check-ups remained uninterrupted, and were mostly provided at the community level. To prevent transmission, the family members and relatives had restricted visits to the health facility during labor or post-delivery. Women preferred to have a shorter hospital stay post-delivery and reduced routine postnatal check-ups for fear of infection. Conclusion: India has a variety of national and state-level programs focused on improving MCH indicators to achieve the SDGs. COVID-19 inadvertently interrupted some components of health services, insinuating the need for a disaster or pandemic-resilient MCH services delivery system.