Introduction
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is manifested by a highly contagious and infectious pneumonia, is a public health emergency of international concern1-3. The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely affected medical systems in countries worldwide, causing critical burden, especially in countries that did not adopt strict isolation, closure and massive population policies.4Channeling medical resources for COVID-19 treatment and management can potentially endanger routine, life-saving, healthcare practice.
Obstetrics is a discipline requiring emergent management, especially in the setting of labor and delivery.5 In our country, hospitals are the sole place that provides obstetric services. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect the treatment and management of healthy pregnant women attending maternity units.
Evidence is currently accumulating regarding the impact of the COVID-19 on infected pregnant women.6-8 However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine obstetrical care is still largely under-reported.
In aim to provide optimal infection control without endangering the parturient population, our obstetrics and gynecology department was the first in our country to construct a separate, geographically isolated, complex for its COVID-19-exposed patients.
We aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic infection control measures on obstetric care in the setting of the obstetrical emergency department (ED), and the short-term outcomes following hospitalization and delivery, in light of the undertaken prevention measures.