The Effect of Covid 19 Pandemic on Antenatal Care Behavior of Pregnant Women, Burdur

Objectives: Antenatal care (ANC) is the follow-up of pregnant women at regular intervals by healthcare personnel to protect and improve their own and their babies' health. This study aimed to reveal the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic on pregnant women's behavior receiving ANC in Burdur. Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 538 pregnant women who were registered in the Family Medicine Information System in Burdur and required prenatal care on 15 May-15 June 2020. The accessibility rate in the study was 515 (95.7%) for 538 pregnant women called by phone. Results: In terms of prenatal care, 14 (2.7%) and 69 (13.4%) of the pregnant women received ANC services from primary and secondary healthcare institutions, respectively, whereas 410 (79.6%) received ANC services from both institutions. In this study, 82 (81.2%) of the pregnant women who did not receive ANC could not attend the family doctor or gynecologist/obstetrician appointment for ANC due to fear of COVID-19 transmission. Conclusion: The study found a decrease in the utilization of ANC services in Burdur, mainly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, many arrangements were made to ensure that safety is prioritized in the implementation of ANC services. However, ANC services should be modified in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. © 2021 by Anatolian Journal of Family Medicine.