Prenatal COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations: Physician Behaviors, Comfort, and Perceived Patient Receptiveness

Numerous professional organizations and obstetric associations endorse prenatal COVID-19 vaccination. Whereas there are no safety concerns for receiving a COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, COVID-19 infection at delivery can cause devastating maternal and fetal outcomes. In this study, we assessed physicians’ behaviors of discussing and recommending COVID-19 vaccinations to their pregnant patients. We recruited a sample of prenatal physicians (n = 201) in June 2021 via an online survey panel. We assessed the proportion of providers discussing and recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to their pregnant patients, physician comfort in recommending the COVID-19 vaccination to their pregnant patients, and their perception of their patients’ receptiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine. We used R for conducting bivariate analyses. Most providers discussed (85%) and recommended (83%) the COVID-19 vaccine to over half of their prenatal patients. Providers reported overall comfort in recommending the vaccine to prenatal patients and reported prenatal patients were open and receptive to receiving the vaccine. High recommending providers (those who discussed and recommended the COVID-19 with more than half of their prenatal patients) reported feeling more confident than providers who discussed (p < .001) and recommended (p < .001) the vaccine to less than half of their patients (low recommending providers). Similarly, compared to low recommending providers, high discussing (p < .001) and low recommending providers (p < .001) perceived their prenatal patients were more open and receptive to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Findings indicate that skill-building and decision-aid tools for providers’ vaccine recommendations are warranted. Future studies should focus on provider recommendations that can support pregnant patients in informed decision-making.