Perception towards COVID-19 and its vaccination among pregnant and lactating women attending a health centre in an urban resettlement colony of East Delhi- A cross-sectional study
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Background: Pregnant and lactating women are at equal risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection as the general population. Studies suggest that pregnant women with severe or critical COVID-19 infection are at increased risk for delivering a preterm baby or pregnancy loss. This study aimed to understand the knowledge and attitude of ANC/PNC women toward COVID-19 infection and its vaccination. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 3 months, among pregnant and lactating women attending Urban Health Centre (UHC), Kalyanpuri, Delhi, which is the field practice area of Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. A pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect data on the socio-demographic profile, knowledge and attitude of pregnant and lactating women towards COVID-19 infection and its vaccination. The distribution of variables was assessed in proportions and percentages. The Chi-square test was applied as the test of significance. The level of significance was considered to be p<0.05. Results: Out of all the study subjects, a considerable proportion (78.5%) of women accepted getting vaccinated against COVID-19 infection while 61.4 per cent were hesitant. The most common reason for refusing vaccination was harm to self (38.6%) followed by harm to the baby (34.3%). The level of education was found to be significantly associated with the vaccination status of study participants. Conclusion: Effective health education measures should be taken to improve risk perception and awareness generation of the importance of vaccination among ANC/PNC women to address vaccine hesitancy.
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