breastfeeding and contraceptive methods in women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (sars-cov-2) infection in peripartum period

Objective: this study aimed to assess the exclusive breastfeeding and contraceptive methods among women delivering within 1-week of a positive test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (sars-cov-2) infection. materials and methods: in this study, 106 women with sars-cov-2 infection who were either asymptomatic or had mild disease were included. they were admitted for maternity care at a tertiary center between may to september 2020. the data was collected during their hospital stay and subsequently by telephonic or in-person interviews at 4-6 weeks and 8-10 weeks postpartum for contraceptive use, breastfeeding and use of facemask and hand-hygiene. results: sixty-three (59.4%) women had vaginal delivery and 43 (40.6%) required cesarean-section. only one of the 98 newborns who were tested for sars-cov-2 turned out positive. initiation of breastfeeding was delayed by an average of three days due to preparing the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) report. exclusive breastfeeding was practiced by 69% and mixed feeding by 26%. pre breastfeeding hand hygiene and facemask use declined after discharge (100% to 53.75% at 8-10 weeks postpartum). out of 106, 86 (81%) women used no contraception at 8-10 weeks postpartum, continued with post-placental-iud in 8/106 (7.5%) and tubal-sterilization during cesarean in 8/106 (7.5%) cases. only 4/106 (4%) adopted alternative methods like barrier contraception. conclusion: the practice of exclusive breastfeeding remains unchanged among women who suffered from sars-cov-2 infection in the peripartum period while uptake of postpartum contraception was minimal except for the women who opted for long term contraceptive methods in the immediate postpartum period.