MOD 008036: Impact of COVID-19 on Antenatal Services in England

This report examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antenatal care services for pregnant women in England. It discusses the challenges faced in providing and accessing these services due to the pandemic, including reduced hospital visits and the increased reliance on telemedicine. The report evaluates the effectiveness of antenatal services during this period, considering alternative service delivery methods and their impact on maternal and fetal health. It also critiques existing literature and data, emphasizing the importance of antenatal care for ensuring healthy pregnancies and births, and providing recommendations for improving antenatal service provision during and after the pandemic. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of antenatal services and their utilisation during Covid-19 by pregnant women in England.

COVID-19 AND
ANTENATAL SERVICES

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
AIM..................................................................................................................................................4
OBJECTIVE....................................................................................................................................4
PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION OF DATA.....................................................................4
A CRITIQUE OF THE FINDINGS AND DATA FROM THE LITERATURE............................5
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................10
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

ABSTRACT
The antenatal care is referring as care that received from health professional during
pregnancy. It is also called sometime pregnancy care or maternity care. The covid-19 pandemic
usually affect the maternal health with direct or indirect ways. In this, paper focus on pregnant
women and mother which is found in higher risk for covid-19 infection as comparison with non-
pregnant women. Moreover, the pregnant people with symptomatic covid-19 which may
experience more adverse outcome as outcome as compared to non-pregnant people and seems to
show the face which is disproportionate adverse social economic consequence. The high income
and low-middle income countries which is showing the significant struggle. In addition, the
further resource is well directed towards the antenatal healthcare professional which may help to
place the relevant approach by providing support and care with the medium of e talk and other
such using of video call and sharing the information and advise that is specific for pregnant
women. The paper carries the information which is related with effect or impact that is caused
due to Covid-19 on antenatal care.
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INTRODUCTION
Antenatal care refers to the care which are provided to the pregnant women which includes
the skilled healthcare professionals to ensure about the best health condition for the both foetus
and mother during pregnancy. This is the care services which are provided to the pregnant
women which can enable individual to provide better and effective health response through
taking care and ensure to identify the complication which are associated with the early pregnancy
(Nurfitriyani, and Puspitasari, 2022). During pregnancy, women need proper care which include
the care and protection to baby and mother for ensure about the proper health condition. This is
the care which should be provided to pregnant women to ensure about the care of individual that
can lead to good health of baby and mother both. It also helps to improve their health. This is the
preventive healthcare service which have the aim to provide better care to the unborn baby and
mother. This help to learn about the healthy behaviour during the pregnancy which can be
demonstrated by the healthcare professionals. They should also provide the information about
understanding of warning signs during pregnancy or childbirth and they may receive emotional,
social and psychological support during that critical time. Antenatal care also provides the
information about the micronutrient supplementation and treatment that can help in the
prevention of hypertension eclampsia and provide immunization against tetanus. Through
antenatal care, pregnant women may also provide HIV testing along with medication which can
help to prevent the spread of HIV from mother to child (Aklilu and et. al., 2020).
Antenatal services are effective which provide high health benefits to pregnant women.
These service provide health benefits and allow to attain good health and influence for achieving
good behaviour that can relates with the consumption of nutritional food. These are the services
which are provided by the healthcare professional with the help of antenatal care that includes
healthcare services to prevent any risk to pregnancy that may impact pregnancy (Nurfitriyani,
and Puspitasari, 2022). Due to impact of Covid-19, there were large number of women who were
pregnant and needed the antenatal care services. In this, due to fear of spread of virus, it was very
difficult to access to healthcare professional physically. In this, there was need to get access to
antenatal care services that can provide and share the information which were associated with
taking the preventive measures to get prevention through getting infected through the virus.
During Covid-19 hospitals and care providers have taken some initiatives which were regarding
providing antenatal care which can help to avoid the risk of getting exposed to the Covid-19
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infection. In this, they have provided the antenatal services in such way that can allow to reduce
the number of visit to the hospitals and provide extra support through using the telephone or
telemedicine. There are some of the services which may are to provide extra care for the
pregnant women during their pregnancy to attain better health and healthy child birth. These
some of the services are screening and diagnostic tests, advice to improve the lifestyle and
nutritional intake, hypnobirthing, Lamaze classes, antenatal yoga, physiotherapy, lactation
counselling along with guidance for new-born baby and their behaviour (Boelig and et. al.,
2020).
During COVID-19, there was high impact on the delivery of service to pregnant women.
During Covid, it was difficult to go outside due to safety concern and avoid the risk of getting
infected through the covid virus. Pregnant women need the antenatal care services which was
needed to take care of the baby which can included with health of pregnant women baby. During
pregnancy, there is need to take care about the good health of pregnant women and baby inside
her. During covid time, lockdown was imposed within the whole world. During this, it was very
difficult to get the healthcare services easily (Nurfitriyani, and Puspitasari, 2022). In this,
pregnant woman was allowed to get the healthcare services but due to various impact of
lockdown created issue to easily access to healthcare services which can lead to create high
impact on the service delivery that includes the antenatal services. There are various types of
service which includes the medical check-ups, recommendation for managing healthy lifestyle,
providing medical information that can be helpful to provide better care and effect that allow to
improve individual health care and influence individual behaviour that can lead to create high
impact on better response towards baby health along with pregnant woman. During covid impact,
it is needed to take the healthcare services which are necessary to ensure about the good health of
baby and pregnant women. Here, through taking various services like on time check-up can
allow to get better care about the effective response regarding possessing good health (Fikadu
and et. al., 2021).
Pregnant women need to take care of their health in which they should access to healthcare
services that can enable to delivery better information which are effectively share that can help to
use that information to take care about their health. It is essential to take care about the health
through getting various services which can allow to provide better care to the pregnant women
regarding to possess good health. To get the antenatal services during covid time was not easy,
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there was need to get connect with the healthcare service provider online which was not as much
as effective that quality of services is provided fact to face. Antenatal service providers were also
understanding the issues to get connect with the pregnant women. So, they arranged to delivery
online services which can allow to provide better help and instruction that can help to associate
with them and allow to achieve good health (Nurfitriyani, and Puspitasari, 2022). To protect
pregnant women and child to get infected from to exposed to virus needed to take care about the
good health which were needed to take care about the good health which was associated with
using different services can help pregnant women to take care of their health and baby inside
them. Due to COVID, there was high impact on getting antenatal healthcare services where large
number of pregnant women were also trying to get most services online to get safe and care for
them. In this, larger number of pregnant women were get those online antenatal services which
were possible. They also get the appointment which get necessary to meet healthcare
professional physically (Habib and et. al., 2021).
AIM
To evaluate the effectiveness of antenatal services and their utilisation during Covid-19 by
pregnant women in England.
OBJECTIVE
 To understand the notion of antenatal services and their utilisation during Covid-19
among women in England.
 To evaluate the effectiveness of antenatal services and their utilisation during Covid-19
among women in England.
 To examine the ways and intervention to reduce the negative effect of antenatal services
and their utilisation during Covid-19 among women in England
PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION OF DATA
The presentation of the project clearly states about the topic antenatal care services during
covid. Here, antenatal care services provide the services to pregnant women about sharing
information and providing instruction to take care of their health and baby inside them. This
presentation produces the different type of antenatal care services which includes the services to
ensure about health improvement and possessing better health for pregnant women. It also helps
to take care of better growth and development of unborn child (Habib and et. al., 2021). This
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presentation provides understanding about the receiving antenatal care services during covid time
which was impacting the receiving of antenatal care services. Due to the pandemic effect, it was
disgraceful to get the antenatal care services offline. It was difficult to travel and take pregnant
women to the hospital with expose of risk toward health of pregnant women and baby inside
(Hofmann-Werther, 2019).
Presentation also demonstrates the information about alternative services which were utilize
by the pregnant women during covid. It was difficult to access to antenatal care services and
healthcare providers were also unable to provide antenatal services to every individual
physically. It was the difficult to avoid the risk of corona virus. In order to this, service provider
uses online services which can be effective to demonstrate instruction and provide information
verbally (Habib and et. al., 2021). It allows pregnant women to get care services online without
visiting to the hospital physically. This was safe and also suitable for them to travel during
pregnancy but there was also issue of some physical test that needed to perform at the hospital
under guidance of an antenatal service provider. So, it was the issue where pregnant women need
to go to the hospital physically which was creating the risk of exposed to corona virus (Jiang and
et. al., 2021).
Presentation also includes about the concept of alternative services which were utilizezing
during covid-19 among women in England. It also provides the impact of antenatal care services
on pregnant women and their uunborn child. This presentation includes the antenatal services
which provide better care and suggestion to pregnant women that can enable to take care of their
own health and best instruction that should be provided to care about the unborn child. It
provides the evaluation where antenatal care services can achieve during such type of situation
and involve better instruction at remote area. Iit also helps to demonstrate antenatal services
which should be utilized by women in England to enhance their and their unborn child health
(Larki and et. al., 2020).
A CRITIQUE OF THE FINDINGS AND DATA FROM THE LITERATURE
A critique is well emphasising the information about the pregnant women who are
associated with having unborn child. In this, they need proper care and assistance which are
highly required to ensure about their proper health and care. However, it is expected to possess
good health which directly impact unborn child health and their development. Pregnancy is
precious time of an expectant mother. In this, it is needed to care about the child which can help
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to get better and effective response towards the events of pregnancy which may include how
fetes will develop and grow in maternal womb. In this, to take care of pregnant women and their
unborn child is necessary and should ensure about any risk to their health. It is also needed to
care about their good health which are related with their intake of food or diet. There is need to
provide proper care which associated with delivery of good nutritional health of unborn child
after birth. During COVID-19 pandemic it was difficult to get access to antenatal service that
were able to provide proper instruction and care which are effective and allow to get better
delivery of services which are associated with creating difficulty in getting care services. Here,
COVID-19 has impact transportation and increase the high risk to get infected through the
COVID-19 virus which can have high negative impact on pregnant women and unborn child’s
life. During COVID-19 pandemic it was also create huge difficulty to deal with the situation
which were associated with getting outside to reach any premises and maintain distance to avoid
the spread of virus. There were also governmental guidelines which were associated to avoid the
risk of getting infected through the COVID-19 virus. In order to this, it was also difficult to
provide services to large number of services user at a time. This practice has higher chances to
spread of COVID-19 virus their services user and services provider too. To solve these issues,
antenatal services provider takes their services to online specially to all those services which can
be provided to pregnant women without physically present. This was the way through which it
allows to create high impact on service delivery which were associated with to provide proper
antenatal services (Lega and et. al., 2022).
Finding includes the information that antenatal services get online which were possible to
get online. In this, antenatal service provider the services which were associated to provide
instruction and information that can allow to get better care for pregnant women and unborn
baby. This includes the all the services which can be delivered online and needed to care about
the healthcare of pregnant women and provide better healthcare services which are associated
with avoid the risk of COVID-19 virus on pregnant women. It has been find out that there were
some of the services which were associated with the learning that can allow to get better care and
impact on the safety and possess good physical and mental health that have impact on the unborn
child health. There is also a critiques that it is not possible to easily access to every pregnant
woman specially who are living in remote area. They are not able to get the access to healthcare
premises regularly. There are also many pregnant women who are not physically able to easily
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travel to premises for getting information which are relevant to instruction what to follow and
what to avoid to better care of pregnant women and her unborn baby health. It can assist them to
avoid and reduce the risk of perinatal mortality within individual. This can have related with
other proper care and possessing good health which can be helpful in proper child development.
Some of the necessary services like check-ups and medical test are needed to perform at the
healthcare premises in which individual need to care about child development within women
womb (McIntosh, 2020).
Findings also associates with the needs and concept of using antenatal services which are
highly effective and allow pregnant women to take care of their health and avoid the things
which should create risk either to pregnant women or to the baby inside them. It also provides
various instruction and recommendation that should be follow to avoid any uncertainty or risk
that can lead to huge loss for pregnant women. Antenatal services also include varies instruction
and suggestion that should be followed and are related with type of diet, type of physical activity
which should perform to get benefits and that should avoid to reduce the risk of consequences.
There are many women who like to get the antenatal services which are highly effective and
have positive impact on individual life to avoid the risk of perinatal mortality and keep baby
proper developed and physically fit. In this, there is need to take care about the good health
which can allow through getting antenatal services that are associated with positive outcomes of
antenatal services (McIntyre, and Moses, 2020).
They show the aspect which also includes the information that pregnant women should get
healthcare services on time that can allow them to take care of unborn child and their proper
development. In this, there is need to ensure about getting antenatal services which comprises of
different physical test and medical check-ups, provision for medical information, managing
healthy lifestyle, preventing potential health problem and many more. Findings includes the
information which assist them to take care about some precaution which can cause harm or may
impact proper development of unborn child. Moreover, findings also include the setting which
lists the information that can acquired the services to pregnant women that can assist in achieving
good health. It is needed to ensure that they should follow the instruction that are provided by the
antenatal services. During COVID-19, it was difficult to access to antenatal services randomly.
In this, there was larger number of waiting list to get the appointment on time which was creating
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the situation of risk to pregnant women and their unborn child health (McIntyre and et. al.,
2020).
COVID-19 has created huge impact to every individual lifestyle, it also created difficulty in
dealing with different healthcare situation. High negative impact listed difficult to take any
service physically which leads to create high risk to get exposed towards the COVID-19 virus.
There is need to take care about the effective response which are associated with taking care of
pregnant women through getting antenatal care. There is negative health impact of not getting
antenatal services which are associated with acquiring good health to pregnant women and her
unborn child (Nurfitriyani, and Puspitasari, 2022). In this, there is critique that antenatal services
are effective and allow to get better care to every individual which should take care about having
good health which can allow to avoid the risk towards getting infected through COVID-19 virus.
According to World Health Organisation, there is need to get antenatal care services about eight
time that can help to reduce the risk of perinatal mortality. This can also include the information
which assist to deliver quality care through following the instruction and suggestion that can help
in getting care to possess good health. There are large number of pregnant women who like to
receive the antenatal services. WHO recommends at least four antenatal care visit which can be
effective and provide high effectiveness regarding possessing good health. It allows to reduce the
number of mortality, promotes institutional deliveries and inclining child survival. There are
about 60% of pregnant women who like to get use the antenatal services that are effective and
provide then care plan and help to achieve good health. During COVID-19 (Mehta and et. al.,
2021).
There are numbers of women who like to take antenatal care which can be effective and
allow to get better care and access to good health which can help to deliver better care and
support to pregnant women. In this, it is also essential to delivery better care about the effective
response in achieving good health. There are large number of pregnant women who are also need
to get information about such type of services exist. In this, it also requires better awareness
about the positive impact of antenatal services which are associated with taking care of essential
services that can help in possessing good health to pregnant women. In this, there are also some
of the pregnant women who are not having access to antenatal services due to living in the
remote area (Aziz and et. al., 2020). Here, COVID-19 has provided the opportunity that allow to
get better learning and impact their health that allow to provide positive outcomes. Findings also
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provides the information that, many of the women who are living in England are not financially
strong to afford the antenatal services. Here, government organisation provides access to
antenatal services which are associated with good health of pregnant women and produce
positive outcome on health of baby and mother both. Antenatal services include some financial
burden that cause decrease in the visit of antenatal services to women in England. Antenatal
services include various medial test and check-ups which requires high cost that is not affordable
to every pregnant woman within England and within world. In this, it is essential to take care
about the financial burden that should not create difficulty during receiving antenatal services to
pregnant women (Mugiati, and Rahmayati, 2021). Findings also includes the COVID-19 impact
which causes difference in receiving the antenatal services. During COVID-19 time, it was not
possible to get regular check-ups like normal days. In this, there was some restriction which
needed to take care about the effectiveness of getting antenatal services online which provides all
the services which were allow to get on online like getting information through using mobile or
telephone medium. This allowed large number of pregnant women to take care about the using
the antenatal services. This can be effective and allow to get learning about the services which
can provide health and support in accessing the good healthcare services which includes in the
antenatal services. There are also large number of pregnant women which can assist them to take
care of their health and also allow to get learning which can assist to achieve good health where
service providers give instruction about what to do or what not to do (Osanan, Vidarte, and
Ludmir, 2020).
The finding is well show the proper discussion that also includes the information that allows
to get access to antenatal services which can be effective for the women who are not able to get
access to healthcare premises. Due to impact of COVID-19, many pregnant women were not
able to get to healthcare promises to for the antenatal services. In this, it creates huge impact on
their health and which should have needed to take care about getting better impact on healthcare.
During COVID-19, there was impact on the service delivery which needed to create impact on
learning of women who are not having more information about antenatal services. There was
needed to get to the premises which created the risk to expose to the COVID-19 virus that can
have high change to lead to mortality of baby and also impact their life (Tekeba, 2021). To get
the medical check-ups there was need to include healthcare staff who may get in contact to the
pregnant women which have also create the risk to infected through the COVID-19 virus. Due to
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getting access to healthcare services they are able to take care of their own health which are
associated with taking care and precaution. There is various information which assist to get
information about the COVID-19 impact which were associated with the antenatal services that
were taken by the pregnant women to ensure about good health that was associated with taking
care of individual which was associated with ensuring about good health and better care of
pregnant women (Otu, and Yaya, 2022).
DISCUSSION
The discussion is well defined and appropriate with the context of Antenatal care. The
discussion usually helpful in order to configure the various aspect which is related with the
aspect of support and care which is provided to the pregnant women. The pregnant women face
the number of issue related with the labour pain and many more which used to complication that
create hindrance in the safe deliver of child (Hussein, 2020). Therefore, the antenatal service is
usually considered as the key component in the term of primary healthcare delivery which is
based on the system for the country which have simple aim to create the healthy society. The
care for the pregnant women may play reliable in order to provide the education and knowledge
regarding the safe pregnancy. The over the past 60 year, the maternal health condition or the
situation become worse and raise the mortality among the population regard with the mother and
child. The maternal health condition has been staggering due to the various change which is may
occur within the socioeconomic environment (Packer and et. al., 2020).
The service of the antenatal care usually consist of medical check-up and consider the
recommendation and suggestion on the managing of the healthy lifestyle and the provision which
is related with the medical information and data such as contain the physiological change related
with term of pregnancy and instant change also analyse, biological change which is usually seen
within the various context and the pre-natal nutrition that include protein, vitamin and proper diet
with consult to the dietician for the pregnant women (Iliyasu and et. al., 2022). These all
information and service are usually cover within the antenatal service which is provided to the
women with pregnancy in order to prevent health issue which may generally occur during the
term of pregnancy. In the UK, the number of women usually face the rising issue such as
preeclampsia, high blood pressure which is normal during the pregnancy, it is usually occur
when the arteries that carry the blood from the heart to the organ and the placenta are narrowed
may cause the complication with mother and child. in addition, the antenatal service may require
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