A New Multiplatform Model for Outpatient Prenatal and Postpartum Care in a Cohort of COVID-19-Affected Obstetric Patients

• Main Authors: Mar Muñoz-Chápuli Gutiérrez, Ana Durán-Vila, Javier Ruiz-Labarta, Pilar Payá-Martínez, Pilar Pintado Recarte, Julia Bujan, Miguel A. Ortega, Juan De León-Luis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: COVID-19; pregnancy; prenatal care; prenatal diagnosis; telemedicine
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5144
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Spain was one of the epicenters of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe in this article the design and results of a new telephone-and-telematic multiplatform model of systematic prenatal and postpartum follow-up for COVID-19-affected women implemented in a tertiary reference hospital in Madrid. We included patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 during pregnancy or delivery from 10 March 2020 to 15 December 2020. We had a total of 211 obstetric patients: 148 (70.1%) were tested at the onset of suspicious clinical manifestations and 62 (29.4%) were tested in the context of routine screening. Of all the patients, 60 women (28.4%) were asymptomatic and 97 (46%) presented mild symptoms. Fifty-one women (24.2%) were admitted to our hospital for specific treatment because of moderate or severe symptoms. We had no missed cases and a good adherence. The mean number of calls per patient was 2.3. We performed 55 in-person visits. We analyzed the complexity of our program over time, showing a two-wave-like pattern. One patient was identified as needing hospitalization and we did not record major morbidity. Telemedicine programs are a strong and reproducible tool to reach to pregnant population affected by COVID-19, to assess its symptoms and severity, and to record for pregnancy-related symptoms both in an outpatient regime and after discharge from hospital.