Analysis of physicians’ experience in providing perinatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic

In pandemic conditions, a survey of doctors can provide important information about their experience, problems and preferences, which will ultimately lead to increased effectiveness of obstetric and perinatal care.The objective: to determine the determinants of doctors’ perception of perinatal care services during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and methods. 70 doctors were surveyed using a developed questionnaire for doctors: 30 of them provided perinatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic at the hospital stage (group 1), 40 doctors – at the outpatient level (group 2).Results. The survey of doctors showed that the vast majority (81.4%) of them experienced an increase in workload at the workplace. At the same time, only 10.0% of respondents noted an increase in wages during the pandemic: 16.7% and 5.0% of respondents at the hospital and outpatient stages. Also, the vast majority (78.6%) of doctors observed an increased number of conflict situations, more so at the outpatient stage (82.5% versus 73.3%). The vast majority of respon-dents (91.4%) noted the provision of special conditions for COVID-infected patients in order to prevent the spread of infection: separate outpatient appointment times (22.5%), separate rooms, separate entrance. Distance consultations (by telephone or online) were provided by the majority of doctors at the outpatient stage (62.5%) and a third (36.7%) of doctors at the hospital stage. More than half of the doctors considered the level of information and regulatory support during the pandemic to be insufficient, and this lack was especially acutely felt by outpatient workers (80.0% versus 33.3%, p < 0.05). The hospital stage was significantly better equipped with personal protective equipment: 60.0% of the surveyed doctors assessed its adequacy at 70–100%, while at the outpatient stage only 15.5% of the surveyed doctors chose such an assessment (p < 0.05). Among the most frequent proposals of doctors were: increasing the remuneration of medical personnel during the pandemic (80.0%), improving material and technical support, improving information and operational regulatory support (78.6%), as well as introducing a psychological support service for personnel (71.4%).Conclusions. In general, the provision of perinatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to doctors, was carried out at a relatively sufficient level, however, certain shortcomings were identified, the consideration of which could improve the quality of such care.