Health worker perspectives on access to antenatal care in rural plains Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic affected access to antenatal care in low and middle-income countries where anaemia in pregnancy is prevalent. We analyse how health workers provided antenatal care and the factors affecting access to antenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kapilvastu district in the western plains of Nepal. We used qualitative and quantitative methodologies, conducting eight semi-structured interviews with health workers who provided antenatal care during the pandemic, and a questionnaire containing open and closed questions with 52 female community health volunteers. Antenatal care was severely disrupted during the pandemic. Health workers had to find ways to provide care with insufficient personal protective equipment and guidance whilst facing extreme levels of stigmatisatio

SUBMITTER: Thapaliya B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10124848 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature