Introduction: The emergence of the COVID‑19 pandemic has left the vulnerable members of the society at risk, most especially pregnant women. This event has caused anxieties on their pregnancy journey. Their main concerns are the effects and transmissibility of the infection to them and to their unborn child. COVID‑19 significantly affects their mental health status Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the fears, perceptions, and common concerns of pregnant women during COVID‑19 in a tertiary hospital in Manila Materials and Methods: This is a prospective, cross‑sectional study design that uses a pretested and validated questionnaire, which directly asks about the fears, perceptions, and common concerns on COVID‑19 among pregnant women. The survey proper was conducted among singleton, term pregnant women aged 18 year old and above Results: The analysis included 313 respondents with a mean (± standard deviation) age of 31 ± 6 years. The three most common fears relayed by the pregnant women were (1) losing their babies if they get COVID‑19 (67.41%); (2) dying if they get the infection (58.79%); and (3) getting a positive test result for COVID‑19 (54.95%). Most of these patients (99.04%) were aware of the changes on their prenatal consultation and health care services. Majority of the participants (53.35%) raised their concerns on the in utero transmission of the virus and nosocomial COVID infection on their newborn from the hospital personnel (42.81%). Conclusions This study showed that fear is a common emotion among pregnant women. With the emergence of the COVID‑19 pandemic, it exacerbated their fears and raised concerns on the harmful effects that may bring on their well‑being and on their unborn child. This pandemic had caused a significant impact on their mental health
COVID‑19 ; Pandemics

Background: In our recent times, COVID-19 is an evolving, rapidly changing global health challenge affecting all sectors. Health-care workers (HCWs) are not only the first in defense against this highly contagious infectious disease but also are directly or indirectly affected by it, and the likelihood of acquiring this disease is higher among HCWs compared to the overall population. It is of utmost importance, therefore, that HCWs have adequate knowledge about all aspects of the disease from clinical manifestation, diagnosis, proposed treatment, and established prevention strategies. In this present study, we assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among HCWs toward the COVID-19 and infection prevention during the ongoing pandemic. Methodology: A KAP and infection prevention and control (IPC) questionnaire was adapted and was administered to the recruited labor and delivery room HCWs involved in the COVID-19 response at a tertiary-level hospital. Clinical characteristics, prevention, and management of COVID-19 consisted of the knowledge questionnaire. Knowledge questionnaire on IPC consisted of questions regarding nosocomial infections, hand hygiene, and universal precautions. Assessment on attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 included questions on behavior and change in practices made toward COVID-19 response while attitude and practice assessment on IPC included questions on guidelines, conducts, and trainings. Knowledge scores were considered and associated by demographic characteristics and their attitude and practices. Results: The study included 114 HCWs with a median age of 30 years (range: 22–72), dominated by females, 85.09% versus 14.91%. The majority of the respondents attained doctorate (44.55%) and bachelor (43.56%) degrees. These HCWs mostly assume 8–16 h tour of duty (62.28%). The mean knowledge score of the HCWs on COVID-19 was 87.48 ± 14.17. The correct overall rate of the knowledge questionnaire was 80.7%. The mean attitude was 3.32 ± 0.55. More than half contemplated that the country is not on a good position to contain COVID-19 spread (54.39%) and only 38.60% are confident that they can manage patients with signs and symptoms of the disease when present to them. As for their current health practices, the past 14 days before the time of data gathering, 63.16% admitted that they have never gone to any crowded places. They always wore their masks when contact with patients (99.12%), refrained from doing handshakes (80.70%), cautiously washed their hands before and after handling patients (99.12%), and avoided patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (82.46%). Overall, up to 97.4% of the participants had good practices. Based on the study findings, it was evident that HCWs are knowledgeable in IPC. The mean score for knowledge among nurses in IPC was 86.7. The mean scores for attitude and practices among nurses in IPC were 4.06 and 2.69, respectively. Therefore, nurses had positive attitudes and good practice toward IPC. Conclusion Our findings suggest that labor and delivery room HCWs have adequate knowledge, and possess good preventive practice to contain the transmission of SARS-COV-2 during the amount of the COVID-19. They even have adequate knowledge and positive attitude and apply appropriate practice on IPC. However, their attitude was less optimistic toward COVID-19 even with better knowledge. Health education schemes geared toward improving COVID-19 knowledge are helpful for encouraging an optimistic attitudes and maintaining safe practices. Continued professional education is suggested among HCWs to enhance the knowledge of HCWs, hence averting negative attitudes and promoting positive preventive and therapeutic practices.
COVID‑19 ; Knowledge

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the association between total gestational weight gain (TGWG) and maternal and perinatal outcomes based on the Institute of Medicine 2009 gestational weight gain (GWG) guidelines among pregnant patients of the department of obstetrics and gynecology in a tertiary hospital Methodology: Our analysis was carried out in a private hospital in Metro Manila, specifically in a tertiary hospital, in a prospective cohort study that included 565 pregnant women from June 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Body mass index (BMI) at initial prenatal visit <14 weeks’ age of gestation and upon admission, birth weight, comorbidities were all assessed and recorded. Our main outcome measures were TGWG, perinatal outcomes (small for gestational age, large for gestational age, intrauterine fetal demise, and admission to neonatal intensive care unit), and maternal outcomes (gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia/eclampsia, and preterm birth). The baseline anthropometric, maternal and neonatal outcomes were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, range and chi‑square test was used to correlate total gestational weight gain against maternal and perinatal outcomes and a P‑value less than 0.05 was statistically significant Results: In this study, the mean BMI was 23.6 kg/m2, and based on BMI classification, 8% were underweight, whereas 28.1% and 9% were overweight and obese, respectively. Based on the recommendations of TGWG on each BMI category, using Chi‑square test, there was a significant association of having excess GWG and inadequate GWG against maternal and perinatal outcomes Conclusion Based on the study, women having excess or inadequate TGWG has effects on maternal and perinatal outcomes. Furthermore, women that are classified as overweight and obese in the first trimester have a higher risk of developing comorbidities
Gestational Weight Gain ; Obesity