How do Perceptions of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Risk Influence Health Decisions in Pregnancy?

This project examines individual health decisions that occur within these structural environments, describing their accumulated impact on key pregnancy outcomes and care indicators related to three themes: vaccination, perinatal care, social supports and mental health. The decisions made during pregnancy have longitudinal impacts on the life of the pregnant person, future child, and family.(1) Given evidence of the particularly difficult situations faced by pregnant people, and the importance of these health decisions, it is important to understand how pandemic circumstances have shaped health decision-making. Understanding how and why pregnant people are making health decisions allows for better clinical and social support as the pandemic endures, and will inform future policy planning. This project is a cross-provincial, parallel mixed-methods study, with thematic data integration at the design and interpretation stages. Ontario and British Columbia were chosen as the two provinces of study because they both experienced a significant impact from COVID-19, both have access to comprehensive administrative health data, and a large number of live births each year.

This study was funded in late February 2022. The quantitative cohort creation plans and data access requests were finalized in late Fall 2022. Qualitative data collection was piloted in Summer 2022, data collection was complete in both provinces August 2023. Study completion is anticipated for February 2024.