Being Pregnant during COVID-19: Exploring the COVID-19 Related Beliefs, Behaviors, and Birth Outcome among Users of a Pregnancy App.

Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101238455 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1660-4601 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 16604601 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Environ Res Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Basel : MDPI, c2004-

Pregnancy* ; COVID-19*/epidemiology ; Mobile Applications*; Female ; Humans ; Birth Rate ; Black or African American ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; White

Being pregnant during COVID-19 increases the risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms, which in turn increases the risk of complications. This study aimed to examine COVID-19-related beliefs, behaviors, and birth outcomes among users of Count the Kicks (CTK), a fetal movement tracking app. This study used the End of Pregnancy Survey data from 1037 CTK users. We used descriptive analyses to analyze COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors and used the chi-square statistic and Z statistic to examine factors associated with vaccination and birth outcome. Nearly half of the survey respondents reported not being concerned that in-person prenatal visits might lead to COVID-19 exposure. Most respondents (65.9%) had already received the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of the survey. The vaccination rate was statistically significantly lower among African Americans than the remaining race/ethnicity groups (mostly white). The healthy birth rate is lower among respondents with high-risk pregnancies, while the stillbirth rate is highest among Hispanics. Vaccination status was not associated with the likelihood of a healthy birth. Our findings confirmed that vaccination does not compromise birth outcomes, further contributing to the existing evidence of COVID vaccine safety during pregnancy. This study also demonstrates an example of using data from a pregnancy app to facilitate research on app users in real-time.

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U54 MD012393 United States MD NIMHD NIH HHS; T1CMC353550100 United States HRSA HRSA HHS; U54MD012393 United States MD NIMHD NIH HHS

Keywords: COVID-19; birth outcome; fetal movement tracking app; pregnant people; vaccination

0 (COVID-19 Vaccines)

Date Created: 20240122 Date Completed: 20240123 Latest Revision: 20240227

20240227

PMC10815880

10.3390/ijerph21010034

38248499