Association between obtaining injury prevention information and maternal and child health services during COVID-19

Abstract

Abstract Background: Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability in children worldwide, and many are preventable. Public maternal and child health services provide ideal opportunities for disseminating injury prevention education. However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted these services, reducing access to injury prevention information. This study aimed to obtain suggestions for delivering injury prevention information to the public during future pandemics. Methods: In March 2022, a nationwide Internet survey of mothers raising children ages 0-2 was conducted, asking whether they could obtain injury prevention information when required and when, what, and how they would like to receive it. Results: Over half of the mothers wanted injury prevention information throughout their pregnancy. They preferred receiving information through traditional face-to-face services provided by local governments, such as antenatal classes or checkups. However, 34.1% of mothers said they did not obtain the information they needed, especially those unemployed, mothers of children aged 0 to 1, and mothers of children with illnesses requiring hospital visits. In public services, failure to be interviewed when submitting pregnancy notification was associated with failure to obtain injury prevention information. Conclusions: It is suggested that the interruption of public services prevented mothers, especially those with fewer opportunities to obtain informal information, from obtaining injury prevention information. Maintaining face-to-face services with infection control measures and considering alternative means of information and support are crucial to prevent parents from being cut off from information sources during future pandemics.