Physician Perceptions of Barriers to Infection Prevention and Control in Labor and Delivery

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
• Personal Author:
  Barnes, Laura E.A. ; White, Katelyn A. ; Young, Marisa R. ; Ramsey, Patrick S. ; Cochran, Ronda L. ; Perkins, Kiran M.
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  To learn about the perceptions of healthcare personnel (HCP) on the barriers they encounter when performing infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in labor and delivery (L&D) to help inform future IPC resources tailored to this setting.
  
  Design:
  
  Qualitative focus groups.
  
  Setting:
  
  L&D units in acute care settings.
  
  Participants:
  
  A convenience sample of L&D HCP attending the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology 2022 Annual Meeting.
  
  Methods:
  
  Two focus groups, each lasting 45 minutes, were conducted by a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A standardized script facilitated discussion around performing IPC practices during L&D. Coding was performed by three reviewers using an immersion-crystallization technique.
  
  Results:
  
  Eighteen conference attendees participated in the focus groups; 67% were obstetrician-gynecologists, 17% infectious disease physicians, 11% medical students, and 6% an obstetric anesthesiologist. Participants described the difficulty of consistently performing IPC practices in this setting as they often respond to emergencies, are an entry point to the hospital, and frequently encounter bodily fluids. They also described that IPC training and education is not specific to L&D, and personal protective equipment is difficult to locate when needed. Participants observed a lack of standardization of IPC protocols in their setting and felt that women’s and pregnant people’s healthcare is not prioritized on a larger scale and within their hospitals.
  
  Conclusion(s):
  
  This study identified barriers to consistently implementing IPC practices in the L&D setting. These barriers should be addressed through targeted interventions and the development of obstetric-specific IPC resources.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Delivery Of Health Care Female Health Personnel Humans Infection Control Obstetrics Physicians Pregnancy
• Source:
  Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 45(4):483-490
• Pubmed ID:
  37982245
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11003826
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  45
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:4edfe6be95fd6a45bf91f522d588f271f434ff86dd3191457ebd22a90fca51b9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/154158/cdc_154158_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 97.68 KB ]