Pregnant under the pressure of a pandemic. Understanding why maternal and delivery healthcare varied in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic and assessing effects of variation on mother and child

The aim of this project is to 1) map how Swedish maternal and delivery healthcare changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) clarify the differences in healthcare provision that appeared across regions, and understand 3) what consequences these differences had for the health of the pregnant mother and the child.

Our data comes from the world-leading national quality register the Swedish Pregnancy Register and from unique longitudinal surveys with pregnant women that were already in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project group builds on existing and strong research collaborations between political scientists, obstetricians and midwives.

Two broad research questions are at the center of the project: How and why did maternal and delivery healthcare change in Swedish regions due to the COVID-19 pandemic? What were the consequences of these changes for the health of the mother and the child?

The cross-disciplinary research group will allow for stringent statistical analyses and detailed qualitative case studies.

We delvelop theory on how societies secure healthcare practices under extreme pressure and thereby how they influence citizens health.

The end product also will be a thorough evaluation of the societal support provided to a generation of pregnant women that were under extreme pressure during the pandemic.

Furthermore, we will suggest new evidence-based practices and prepare society for effective delivery of maternal and delivery healthcare in coming pandemics.