Accessibility and utilization of antenatal care services in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid review.
Africa
COVID-19
antenatal care
Journal
Birth (Berkeley, Calif.)
ISSN: 1523-536X
Titre abrégé: Birth
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8302042
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
09 2023
09 2023
Historique:
revised:
03
02
2023
received:
24
06
2022
accepted:
08
02
2023
medline:
9
8
2023
pubmed:
7
3
2023
entrez:
6
3
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Control measures for the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to health care delivery. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) stopped the provision of essential health care except for those services that were deemed emergencies or life-threatening. A rapid review was conducted on March 18, 2022, on the accessibility and utilization of antenatal care services in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, and the World Health Organization library databases were searched for relevant studies. A modified Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO) framework informed the development of the search strategy. The review included studies conducted within Africa that described the availability, access, and utilization of antenatal services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. This review revealed a reduction in access to ANC services, an increase in the number of home deliveries, and a reduction in the number of women attending ANC visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. A decrease in ANC service utilization was reported in some studies in the review. Barriers to ANC access and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic included movement restrictions, limited transport access, fear of contracting COVID-19 at the health facilities, and facility barriers. The use of telemedicine needs to be improved in African countries to allow for the continued provision of health services during pandemics. In addition, there should strengthening of community involvement in the provision of maternal health services post-COVID-19 so that services may be able to better withstand future public health emergencies.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
496-503Informations de copyright
© 2023 The Authors. Birth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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