Abstract
Fear of hospitalization in addition to uncertainties about appropriate treatment at the beginning of COVID -19 pandemic may have affected the health and outcome of pregnant women. Lack of transportation closed out -patient services, and lack of employment has directly linked to poor maternal and perinatal outcomes during nationwide lockdown. This study was aimed to find out the poor perinatal outcome during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan, Nepal. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in BPKIHS from 24th March 2020 to 23rd July 2020 during the first COVID- 19 lockdown for the duration of 4 months. The data were collected between 1st February to 15th February 2021 from the hospital records. Convenience sampling was done. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 24. Poor perinatal outcomes: perinatal death, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, newborn admission, and different reasons for admission were analyzed using descriptive statistics. There were a total of 2685 obstetric admissions and 2442 deliveries during the study period of 4 months. Mean age and gestational age of women with poor perinatal outcome were 27.16 ± 6.02 years and 36.38± 4.54 weeks respectively. The perinatal death rate was 26.2 per 1000 births. 128 newborns required neonatal admission and prematurity was the most common cause. The prevalence of poor perinatal outcome was like other studies done in similar settings. However, larger, comparative studies are needed to identify a definite association of COVID 19 pandemic lockdown with poor perinatal outcomes.
Key words: COVID-19, Lockdown, Perinatal death, Perinatal outcome, Preterm birth.