Pandemic Pregnancy Experiences and Risk Mitigation Behaviors: COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in Canada

Sigourney Shaw-Churchill and Karen P. Phillips ()
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Sigourney Shaw-Churchill: Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Karen P. Phillips: Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Pregnant people in Canada during the pandemic faced complex decision-making related to COVID-19 exposure risks and the safety of mitigation measures, including vaccines. To help inform future infectious disease–health promotion, we assessed pandemic pregnancy experiences and COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies. Methods: Respondents, pregnant at any time after January 2020 in Canada, completed an online, cross-sectional, descriptive survey from September 2021 to February 2022. Logistic regression was used to identify predictive factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake and history of infection. Results: A purposive sample of predominantly non-racialized, high socioeconomic status women ( n = 564), 58.2% primigravid during the pandemic, reported high COVID-19 vaccine uptake (87.4%). Educational attainment beyond high school predicted COVID-19 vaccination (college AOR: 2.72, CI: 1.24–5.94, p < 0.001; university AOR 4.01, CI: 1.91–8.40, p < 0.001; post-graduate university AOR: 7.31, CI: 2.84–18.81, p < 0.001). Immigrant status reduced the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination (AOR: 0.20; CI: 0.09–0.49, p < 0.001). Racialized participants were 2.78-fold more likely to report infection (CI:1.19–6.50, p = 0.018). Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination uptake was very high; however, vaccine hesitancy was evident among immigrants, with racialized participants more likely to report a history of COVID-19 infection. Tailored public health messaging using a health equity lens may yield more robust vaccine uptake for future infectious respiratory disease outbreaks.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; pregnancy; COVID-19 vaccines; vaccine hesitancy; prenatal care; antenatal care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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