Rapid Deployment of a Drive-Through Prenatal Care Model in Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

• Published in: Obstetrics and gynecology (New York. 1953) Vol. 136; no. 1; pp. 29 - 32
• Main Authors: Turrentine, Mark, Ramirez, Mildred, Monga, Manju, Gandhi, Manisha, Swaim, Laurie, Tyer-Viola, Lynda, Birsinger, Michele, Belfort, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-07-2020; by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - virology; COVID-19; Current; Female; Humans; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - prevention & control; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - virology; Prenatal Care - methods; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine - methods; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0029-7844; 1873-233X
• DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003923

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been declared a public health emergency for the entire United States. Providing access to prenatal health care while limiting exposure of both obstetric health care professionals and patients to COVID-19 is challenging. Although reductions in the frequency of prenatal visits and implementation of telehealth interventions provide some options, there still remains a need for patient–health care professional visits. A drive-through prenatal care model was developed in which pregnant women would remain in their automobiles while being assessed by the health care professional, thus reducing potential patient, health care professional, and staff exposure to COVID-19. Drive-through prenatal visits would include key elements that some institutions cannot perform by telehealth encounters, such as blood pressure measurements for evaluation for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, fetal heart rate assessment, and selected ultrasound-based measurements or observations, as well as face-to-face patient–health care professional interaction, thereby reducing patient anxiety resulting from the reduction in the number of planned clinic visits with an obstetric health care professional as well as fear of virus exposure in the clinic setting. We describe the rapid development of a drive-through prenatal care model that is projected to reduce the number of in-person clinic visits by 33% per patient compared with the traditional prenatal care paradigm, using equipment and supplies that most obstetric clinics in the United States can access.