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.