Attitude of Pregnant and Lactating Women Towards Vaccination Against Covid-19

  • Qurrat ul Ain Associate Surgeon, Gynecology & Obs. Department, Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Usmania Sultan Resident, Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Federal Government Polyclinic PGMI, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Sabeen Aslam Associate Surgeon, Gynecology & Obstetrics. Department, Federal Government Polyclinic PGMI, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Naushin Farooq Surgeon, Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Federal Government Polyclinic PGMl, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Saima Shafiq Medical Officer, Department of Gynecology &Obstetrics, Federal Government Polyclinic PGMI, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Maham Farooq House Officer, Department of Medicine, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan
Keywords: Attitude, COVID-19, Vaccine, Pregnancy, Lactation

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of perils for humanity, especially pregnant and lactating women, who are susceptible to many complications and thus bear a major factor amongst pregnant and lactating women. Objective: To determine the attitude of pregnant and lactating women towards the vaccination of COVID-19 at a tertiary care Hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Department of gynecology and obstetrics, federal government polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad Pakistan. Duration: December 2021 to June 2022. Methods: All pregnant and lactating women aged 18 to 45 years who visited the Gynecology OPD for a routine checkup and were willing to participate in the study were included. After taking demographic information, women were interviewed regarding the COVID-19 vaccine to observe their perceptions about the efficacy and safety of vaccines. In addition, women were interviewed regarding their acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine and, for those who stated that they were not willing, their views, regarding the vaccine. All the information was collected via a questionnaire-based study proforma for the purpose of analysis. Results: A total of 300 women were assessed towards vaccination of COVID-19, out of them 51.7% were aged 18-30 years and 48.3% were aged 31-45 years. Out of all, 57.0% of women showed a positive attitude, while 43.0% of participants had a negative attitude towards vaccination against COVID-19. Attitudes toward vaccination against COVID-19, were statistically insignificant according to age, SES, and employment status (p > 0.05), while it was statistically significant according to educational status (p=0.001). Conclusion: As per the study conclusion, more than fifty percent of the women had positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant and lactating women, while the refusal rate was still observed to be high. Illiteracy and inadequate counselling seem to be causal factors linked to the negative attitudes.

Published
2022-06-30
How to Cite
Ain, Q. ul, Sultan, U., Aslam, S., Farooq, N., Shafiq, S., & Farooq, M. (2022). Attitude of Pregnant and Lactating Women Towards Vaccination Against Covid-19. Annals of Punjab Medical College, 16(2), 128-131. https://doi.org/10.29054/apmc/2022.1203