Birth in the time of COVID

Birth in the time of COVID This is the offical page of the Birth in the time of COVID (BITTOC) research project led by Professo

We have just published our paper on Telehealth during the pandemic from the BITTOC study, looking at what women and midw...
16/01/2024

We have just published our paper on Telehealth during the pandemic from the BITTOC study, looking at what women and midwives felt about using Telehealth. We found perceived benefits included: reduced COVID-19 transmission risk, increased flexibility, convenience and cost efficiency. However, women described inadequate assessment, and negative impacts on communication and rapport development. Midwives had similar concerns and also reported technological challenges.

Well done Emma Collins Hill on leading the analysis for this paper and thanks to the amazing team who contributed.

To reduce transmission risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘telehealth’ (health care delivered via telephone/video-conferencing) was implemented into A…

Another paper is out from our Birth in the Time of COVID-19 study (BITTOC). Well done all, especially Hazel Keedle and K...
19/09/2023

Another paper is out from our Birth in the Time of COVID-19 study (BITTOC). Well done all, especially Hazel Keedle and Kimberley Tomkzak for your hard work on this.

This study followed seven women throughout their pregnancy and early parenthood. Women created audio or video recordings in real time using the Voqual app and were followed up by in-depth interviews after they gave birth.

These findings highlight the protective impact midwifery continuity of care has on reducing anxiety in women during the pandemic, and that the home environment can either be secure and safe or a place of isolation.

Purpose Internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted maternity services. In Australia, this included changes to antenatal appointments and the reduction of support people during labour and birth. For women pregnant during the pandemic there were increased stressors of infection in the community a...

Excited to see our next Birth in the Time of COVID-19 paper published on childbirth classes during the pandemic. Survey ...
30/08/2023

Excited to see our next Birth in the Time of COVID-19 paper published on childbirth classes during the pandemic.

Survey responses were received from 3172 women (1343pregnantand1829postnatal) for the ‘Birth In The Time Of Covid-19 (BITTOC)’ survey (August 2020 to February 2021) in Australia. One of the survey questions asked women if they had experienced changes to CBPE class schedules or format during the pandemic, with a follow up open ended text box inviting women to comment on the impact of these changes. The majority of women experienced changes to CBPE, with only 9% stating they experienced no changes to classes. A content analysis was undertaken on the 929 open text responses discussing the impact these changes had on women’s experience of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

Results
929 women (29%) made 1131 comments regarding changes to CBPE classes during the pandemic. The main finding ‘I felt so unprepared’, highlights how women perceived the cessation or alteration of classes impacted their birth preparation, with many reporting an increased sense of isolation. Some women reported feeling ‘It was good enough’ with adequate provision of online classes, and others feeling ‘I was let down by the system’ due to communication and technological barriers.

Conclusions
Results highlight the importance of ensuring continued provision of hybrid/online childbirth education models to enable versatility during times of crisis. Gaps in service provision, communication and resources for childbirth and parenting education need addressing.

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Another one of our papers published. Prenatal maternal stress was not associated with birthweight or gestational age a...
15/04/2023

Another one of our papers published. Prenatal maternal stress was not associated with birthweight or gestational age at birth during COVID‐19 restrictions in Australia: The BITTOC longitudinal cohort study. Thanks to all the women who participated.

Background Various forms of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) have been reported to increase risk for preterm birth and low birthweight. However, the associations between specific components of stress...

We have published in the Conversation today on COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women stemming from our paper just publish...
13/04/2023

We have published in the Conversation today on COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women stemming from our paper just published in BMJ Open.

Pregnant this winter? Here's how to prepare for COVID and get vaccinated

Concerns about taking any medication when pregnant are common and understandable. But the risks of getting COVID while pregnant and unvaccinated are high.

Our next paper from the Birth in The Time of COVID-19 study is now published . This study includes 2140 women respondi...
13/04/2023

Our next paper from the Birth in The Time of COVID-19 study is now published . This study includes 2140 women responding to the survey (838 pregnant; 1302 recently post partum)on COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Results Amongst pregnant women, 586 (69.9%) were vaccinated, 166 (19.8%) indicated intention and 86 (10.3%) were hesitant. In postnatal women, this was 1060 (81.4%), 143 (11.0%) and 99 (7.6%), respectively. Only 52 (6.2%) of pregnant women stated never wanting a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy increased over time, and for pregnant women was associated with: living in a state other than New South Wales (NSW) (Adjusted Relative Risk (ARR) 2.77, 95%CI: 1.68-4.56 for vaccine intention and ARR=3.31, 95%CI: 1.52-7.20 for vaccine hesitancy), younger age

Objective To examine the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination, and factors associated with vaccination intention and hesitancy in pregnant and postnatal women in Australia. Design and setting A national online survey was conducted over 6 months between 31 August 2021 and 1 March 2022 and responses to....

Our paper now published on prenatal stress and postpartum maternal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well done to Am...
11/07/2022

Our paper now published on prenatal stress and postpartum maternal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well done to Amber-Lee Di Paolo on her first ever publication 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽. This is from the BITTOC study. Thanks to all the amazing women who took part and made this study happen 🙏🏽💗💗

While there have been reports of increased perinatal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (Stepowicz et al., 2020), there has been a lack of research …

Our paper led by Bronwyn Brew on the 'double jeopardy' of the bushfires and COVID on pregnancy and birth has just been p...
01/07/2022

Our paper led by Bronwyn Brew on the 'double jeopardy' of the bushfires and COVID on pregnancy and birth has just been published! Do bushfires and COVID increase perinatal risk?Yes, in a way, but more research is needed

From November 2019 to January 2020, eastern Australia experienced the worst bushfires in recorded history. Two months later, Sydney and surrounds were…

Excited to share with you our third paper from the Birth in the Time of COVID study (BITTOC). This paper was led by an a...
29/06/2022

Excited to share with you our third paper from the Birth in the Time of COVID study (BITTOC). This paper was led by an amazing Canadian Intern who worked with us called Amber-Lee Di Paolo.

Resilience is key and we need to find ways to support women and families to build and maintain this resilience in difficult times

-Greater objective hardship and subjective distress in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic predicted higher 2-month postpartum anxiety
-For women with low/neutral resilience, or low/moderate tolerance of uncertainty, or a negative cognitive appraisal, greater objective hardship predicted higher postpartum anxiety.
-For women with a negative cognitive appraisal, greater prenatal subjective distress due to the pandemic predicted higher postpartum anxiety. Conversely, for women with a neutral/positive cognitive appraisal, there was no association.

While there have been reports of increased perinatal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (Stepowicz et al., 2020), there has been a lack of research …

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