What is the impact of Covid-19 on the Antenatal Care Services Utilization in Public-Private-Rural-Urban Hospitals of India during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period of 2020-2021 compared to pre-pandemic era 2018-2019?

Abstract Background The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is well documented to have a disastrous effect on the health-care services, particularly pregnancy-related health services. In order to provide the information to the scientific community and policy makers with accredited evidence and data in the country, this retrospective cross sectional mixed research study aims to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antenatal services utilization among pregnant women of India attending public / private / rural / urban health facilities in 36 states and union territories. Hence, the researcher hopes that result and analysis will be beneficial to important stakeholders as well as policy makers in designing strategies for prioritizing pregnancy healthcare even within the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods A facility-based retrospective mixed cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January 2018 to 31st May 2021 for pregnant women attending public / private / rural / urban ANC services in 36 states and union territories of India. A total of 96990524 women registered for ANC during this period across all health facilities were included in the study with a purposive sampling technique. The data required for this study is collected from HMIS of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) which is the most accredited data source in India. The total number of indicators included for the study was 20.The data collected is analysed with the help of Microsoft office. Results Overall, 96990524 women registered for ANC during the study period. The analysis shows that the covid-19 pandemic era has a negative impact on several indicators. The study revealed that there is significant increase in ANC service utilization at urban health facility of all the services as compared to pre-pandemic era on cumulative all India basis. Conclusion Enhancing women knowledge of protective health services, prioritizing maternal care related health services during ongoing COVID-19, and improving the accessibility of ANC service should be emphasized for getting maximum benefit to the neediest.