Learning Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Qualitative Assessment of the Experiences of Pregnant Latinas Infected with COVID-19 and Their Perspectives on Vaccination

Marcela Lopez; Jonathan Altamirano; Stephanie Melchor; Susan Perez; Yvonne Maldonado; Natali Aziz; Irogue Igbinosa

doi:10.1007/s40615-024-02010-3

Learning Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Qualitative Assessment of the Experiences of Pregnant Latinas Infected with COVID-19 and Their Perspectives on Vaccination

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 May 6. doi: 10.1007/s40615-024-02010-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Marcela Lopez¹, Jonathan Altamirano², Stephanie Melchor³, Susan Perez⁴, Yvonne Maldonado^{2

5}, Natali Aziz⁶, Irogue Igbinosa⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCSF Fresno, Fresno, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, California State University, Sacramento, CA, USA.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁶ Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁷ Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. iiigbi@stanford.edu.

PMID: 38709334
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-024-02010-3

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the experiences of pregnant Hispanic/Latine people with COVID-19, as well as their perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

Methods: We interviewed birthing parents who received care from a teaching hospital in California and tested positive for COVID-19 during pregnancy or delivery. We analyzed transcripts using the constant comparative method for analyzing data to using a phenomological epidemiological approach. We used root cause analysis to identify consistent themes across interviews and assess relationships between social determinants of health and COVID-19 infectivity.

Results: We interviewed 14 women from November 2021 to June 2022. Participants reported COVID-19 adversely impacted their clinical care and well-being during pregnancy or postpartum. Impacts among Spanish-speaking participants included unexpected financial hardships, challenges navigating in-patient experiences, and difficulty securing reliable childcare. While most participants were at least partially vaccinated, participants also described doubts and concerns about the vaccine.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latine patients could benefit from receiving more information about COVID-19 in pregnancy from their healthcare providers. Leveraging familial and social networks, providing reliable information in people's preferred language, and increasing communication through trusted partners may also help combat vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hispanic; Pregnant; Vaccine hesitancy.