A qualitative study of pregnant women's opinions on COVID-19 vaccines in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives: to examine pregnant Turkish women's opinions on COVID-19 vaccines.

Design: a qualitative approach was used to gather data through semi-structured interviews.

Participants and setting: 16 women about to receive a vaccine during their pregnancy and who did or did not experience vaccine hesitancy participated.

Analysis: qualitative content analysis.

Findings: three main themes emerged regarding the pregnant women's opinions on COVID-19 vaccines: fear, security/insecurity and social support.

Key conclusions and implications for practice: pregnant women mostly recalled their babies and fears about COVID-19 vaccines. Although the fear of vaccines created vaccine hesitancy during pregnancy, the fear of contracting COVID-19 led to a positive attitude to the vaccines. It is critical to provide pregnant women with information about COVID-19 and vaccines for the disease in order to enhance vaccination rates among pregnant women.

Keywords: COVID-19; Opinion; Pregnant; Qualitative study; Vaccine.