Low trust, high barriers: A qualitative study of perinatal care experiences in New York City during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated challenges faced by pregnant women, introducing new risks and intensifying existing disparities, particularly among those routinely experiencing race- and ethnicity-based discrimination. It remains unclear how the pandemic affected perceptions of perinatal quality of care (QoC).

Objectives

To explore mothers' experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the early postpartum period during the early COVID-19 pandemic, attending to both health care encounters and to the broader structural and social forces shaping those experiences.

Design

The COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) Initiative is a longitudinal, prospective cohort study investigating maternal-child outcomes among women from a predominantly low socioeconomic status, Latinx community in New York City who delivered during the pandemic. This qualitative substudy analyzed a subset of participants using modified grounded theory.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews explored perinatal and pandemic experiences, perceptions of inequitable or poor treatment, and protective factors among 64 participants purposively sampled from the parent cohort. Analysis focused on 48 transcripts highlighting discrimination-related themes, which were transcribed and systematically coded using both inductive and deductive approaches.

Results

Four themes reflected low perceived QoC: disrupted communication, lack of cultural sensitivity, inaccessibility of resources, and medical distrust. Medical distrust was both a driver and a consequence of perceived care. Central to the other three themes was uncertainty over whether poor QoC reflected pandemic-related disruptions, discrimination, or both, a pervasive ambiguity we term the Murky Waters phenomenon.

Conclusion

Giving birth during the pandemic worsened perceptions of perinatal QoC, with discrimination compounding negative experiences. Findings underscore the link between care quality and trust in medical institutions, highlighting the need for evidence-based crisis protocols that both reduce unnecessary risk while preserving patient agency, particularly for marginalized populations. The pandemic exposed longstanding structural inequities, presenting an opportunity to address these patient-level manifestations and strengthen support for populations facing systemic barriers.

SUBMITTER: Lanoff M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12925035 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature