Determinants of Vaccination and Willingness to Vaccinate against COVID-19 among Pregnant and Postpartum Women during the Third Wave of the Pandemic: A European Multinational Cross-Sectional Survey

Emeline Maisonneuve; Eva Gerbier; Fatima Tauqeer; Léo Pomar; Guillaume Favre; Ursula Winterfeld; Anneke Passier; Alison Oliver; David Baud; Hedvig Nordeng; Michael Ceulemans; Alice Panchaud

doi:10.3390/v15051090

Determinants of Vaccination and Willingness to Vaccinate against COVID-19 among Pregnant and Postpartum Women during the Third Wave of the Pandemic: A European Multinational Cross-Sectional Survey

Viruses. 2023 Apr 29;15(5):1090. doi: 10.3390/v15051090.

Authors

Emeline Maisonneuve^{1

2}, Eva Gerbier³, Fatima Tauqeer⁴, Léo Pomar^{2

5}, Guillaume Favre², Ursula Winterfeld⁶, Anneke Passier⁷, Alison Oliver⁸, David Baud², Hedvig Nordeng⁴, Michael Ceulemans^{7

9

10}, Alice Panchaud^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
² Materno-Fetal and Obstetrics Research Unit, Department "Femme-Mère-Enfant", Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
³ Service of Pharmacy, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁴ Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Research Group, Department of Pharmacy, PharmaTox Strategic Research Initiative, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
⁵ School of Health Sciences (HESAV), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁶ Swiss Teratogen Information Service, Clinical pharmacology Service, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁷ Teratology Information Service, Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb, 5237 MH 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
⁸ UK Teratology Information Service, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust and the UK Health Security Agency, Newcastle upon Tynes NE2 4AB, UK.
⁹ Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
¹⁰ L-C&Y, KU Leuven Child & Youth Institute, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

With COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy at around 50% in the obstetric population, it is critical to identify which women should be addressed and how. Our study aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccination willingness among pregnant and postpartum women in Europe and to investigate associated determinants. This study was a cross-sectional, web-based survey conducted in Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and United Kingdom (UK) in June-August 2021. Among 3194 pregnant women, the proportions of women vaccinated or willing to be vaccinated ranged from 80.5% in Belgium to 21.5% in Norway. The associated characteristics were country of residence, chronic illness, history of flu vaccine, trimester of pregnancy, belief that COVID-19 is more severe during pregnancy, and belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is effective and safe during pregnancy. Among 1659 postpartum women, the proportions of women vaccinated or willing to be vaccinated ranged from 86.0% in the UK to 58.6% in Switzerland. The associated determinants were country of residence, chronic illness, history of flu vaccine, breastfeeding, and belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe during breastfeeding. Vaccine hesitancy in the obstetric population depends on medical history and especially on the opinion that the vaccine is safe and on the country of residence.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; SARS-CoV-2; breastfeeding; postpartum; pregnancy; vaccination hesitancy; vaccination willingness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Influenza Vaccines*
Pandemics
Pregnancy
Vaccination

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
Influenza Vaccines

Grants and funding

This specific research project received no external funding. The research activities of Michael Ceulemans were supported by the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the KU Leuven. The research activities of Alice Panchaud were supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and the CHUV Fundation.