Care recommendations for parturient and postpartum women and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.
Victor Hugo Alves Mascarenhas, Adriana Caroci-Becker, Kelly Cristina Máxima Pereira Venâncio and 3 others
PMID 32785566WHAT IT FOUND
Early pandemic recommendations for labour, postpartum and newborn care in suspected or confirmed coronavirus infection favoured routine obstetric decisions, masks and hand hygiene, breastfeeding with precautions, and careful monitoring.
It mapped expert recommendations, not tested interventions.
Key findings
01The review included 19 papers, all dated 2020, and most were conducted in China (n=13).
02The included papers were six retrospective descriptive studies, five reviews, four opinion papers, three case studies, and one experience report.
03The mapped recommendations covered childbirth care and postpartum care, including breastfeeding, newborn care, hospital discharge, and home care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review did not formally assess the methodological quality of included papers. Most included papers came from China, and many were retrospective studies, reviews, opinion papers, case studies, or experience reports. The search was limited to English, Spanish, and Portuguese, so work published in other languages may have been missed. Some practices remained unresolved, including directed pushing, instrumental delivery, delayed umbilical cord clamping, and immediate newborn bathing. The recommendations were mapped during an evolving pandemic and were expected to change as new evidence emerged.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that any recommended practice improves outcomes. It is a scoping review of early recommendations, and the included papers were not controlled trials, so the review maps what was suggested rather than proving what works.