ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2022
Quality of facility-based maternal and newborn care around the time of childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic: online survey investigating maternal perspectives in 12 countries of the WHO European Region.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT04847336 (IMAGINE EURO), which is not on this map. Cited by 57 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
IMAGINE EURO (Improving MAternal Newborn carE In the EURO Region): Maternal and Newborn Health Service Preparedness, Quality and Resilience, Among Countries of the WHO European Region, During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Parental experiences with changes in maternity care during the Covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-studies systematic review.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2023Pooled it
- Health workers' perspectives on the quality of maternal and newborn health care around the time of childbirth: Results of the Improving MAternal Newborn carE in the EURO Region (IMAgiNE EURO) project in 12 countries of the World Health Organization European Region.Journal of global health · 2024Trial
- Effect of Remote Essential Newborn Care Training Paired With In-Person Quality Improvement on Optimizing Immediate and Resuscitative Care Practices.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Article
- Maternity Care Experiences Among Birthing Women in Two European-Region Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.International journal of nursing practice · 2026Article
- Experiences of disrespect and abuse during childbirth in the World Health Organization European region: A mixed-method study among 22 countries.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Functionalities of electronic routine health information systems related to newborn data: findings of the IMPULSE study in Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the Central African Republic.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- The Association Between Women's Perception of Birth During the Pandemic, Companion of Choice and Support From Health Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study in 20 Countries in the WHO European Region.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Article
- Development and validation of the birth integrity questionnaire for measuring attitudes, maternity care, and perceptions of birth.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Article
- Assuring Primary Healthcare Services to Vulnerable Children in a Disadvantaged Suburb of Rome Metropolitan City During the Pandemic: Responses to the Crisis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- In search of respect and continuity of care: Hungarian women's experiences with midwifery-led, community birth.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pregnancy, Birth Experiences, and Mental Health: Voices from Women in Puerto Rico.Maternal and child health journal · 2025Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Maternal Health: Quantitative Data Related to Risk and Protective Factors Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Puerto Rico.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Consent for interventions during childbirth: A national population-based study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- "She helped from the first minute to the last" - Experiences of respectful maternal and newborn care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nampula Province, Mozambique.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Quality of care at childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium: a cross-sectional study based on WHO standards.BMJ open · 2024Observational
- Trends in the quality of maternal and neonatal care in Sweden and Norway as compared to 12 WHO European countries: A cross-sectional survey investigating maternal perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Observational
- Implementation of the WHO Standards to assess quality of paediatric care at the facility level using service users' perspective as source of data: a multicentre quality improvement study in Italy.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Implementation of the WHO Standards to assess the quality of paediatric care using health workers as source of data: findings of a multicentre study (CHOICE) in Italy.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Parental stress, depression, anxiety and participation to care in neonatal intensive care units: results of a prospective study in Italy, Brazil and Tanzania.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
34 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMulti-country studies assessing the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as defined by WHO Standards, are lacking.
methodsWomen who gave birth in 12 countries of the WHO European Region from March 1, 2020 - March 15, 2021 answered an online questionnaire, including 40 WHO Standard-based Quality Measures.
findings21,027 mothers were included in the analysis. Among those who experienced labour (N=18,063), 41·8% (26·1%- 63·5%) experienced difficulties in accessing antenatal care, 62% (12·6%-99·0%) were not allowed a companion of choice, 31·1% (16·5%-56·9%) received inadequate breastfeeding support, 34·4% (5·2%-64·8%) reported that health workers were not always using protective personal equipment, and 31·8% (17·8%-53·1%) rated the health workers' number as "insufficient". Episiotomy was performed in 20·1% (6·1%-66·0%) of spontaneous vaginal births and fundal pressure applied in 41·2% (11·5% -100%) of instrumental vaginal births. In addition, 23·9% women felt they were not treated with dignity (12·8%-59·8%), 12·5% (7·0%-23·4%) suffered abuse, and 2·4% (0·1%-26·2%) made informal payments. Most findings were significantly worse among women with prelabour caesarean birth (N=2,964). Multivariate analyses confirmed significant differences among countries, with Croatia, Romania, Serbia showing significant lower QMNC Indexes and Luxemburg showing a significantly higher QMNC Index than the total sample. Younger women and those with operative births also reported significantly lower QMNC Indexes.
interpretationMothers reports revealed large inequities in QMNC across countries of the WHO European Region. Quality improvement initiatives to reduce these inequities and promote evidence-based, patient-centred respectful care for all mothers and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond are urgently needed.
fundingThe study was financially supported by the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy. STUDY REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04847336.
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