Emotional experience of mothers facing visitor restrictions in the maternity wards during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Objectives

Using a qualitative method, this study explored the experiences and opinions of mothers facing visitor restrictions in maternity wards during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Population and methods

A total of 16 women between the ages of 29 and 38 years were recruited. They gave birth between April 2020 and July 2022 in metropolitan France or the Netherlands. Each participant had an individual and semi-directional telephonic interview which was transcribed and subjected to thematic content analysis.

Results

Visitor restrictions in maternity wards were a source of great apprehension for participants, which is the first theme of our thematic analysis. The unknown, changes in restrictions and mentions of other mothers who had experienced such restrictions were often sources of fear, anxiety and a heavy mental load for these participants. The second theme was the yearning and related to the lack of emotional and physical support that mothers felt when their family and friends were not allowed in the maternity ward; this theme also highlighted the central place given to the new-born's siblings in this ward. The third theme was the traumatic experience of mothers who have experienced the restriction of their partner. These results underline the need for participants to be accompanied by their partners throughout their stay in the maternity ward. Finally, tranquillity was the last theme and was related to the absence of family and friends during postpartum care, something that participants had differing opinions about but that most agreed would have given them a better first postpartum experience in the maternity ward.

Discussion

Whether viewed as positive or negative, visitor restrictions have a significant impact on how mothers experience their childbirth and stay in a maternity ward.

Conclusions

If a new wave of the pandemic were to occur, these results would encourage policy makers to rethink visitor restrictions in maternity wards and consider the need for every mother to be surrounded there by the people of her choice.