Perspectives and practices of some obstetricians and research assistants in Ankara on pregnancy vaccination

Objective: This study aims to obtain information about the perspectives of some gynecologists and obstetricians in Ankara on pregnancy vaccination, to learn the rate of gynecologists and obstetricians recommending vaccination to pregnant women, and to offer suggestions to increase the pregnancy vaccination rate in the long term. Methods: It is a comparative and descriptive type of study. For the study, 145 gynecologists and obstetricians and research assistants working in public hospitals, university hospitals and private polyclinics in the center of Ankara were contacted by appointment and a face-to-face survey was conducted. A statistical evaluation was made to evaluate the data obtained after 3 months; Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used as the program for this. Descriptive statistical tests will be used. One-sample Chi-square test, Fisher's Exact Test, Yates chi-square (corrected) Test and Fisher-Freeman-Halton test were used as sample tests. The results were evaluated with a 95% confidence interval, with significance accepted at p<0.05. Results: Approximately 90% of the physicians who participated in our study stated that they recommend vaccination to pregnant women. The vaccines recommended by the participants varied. 26.9% of the participants declared that they recommendedonly Td vaccine, 22.8% only flu vaccine, 8.3% Td and Covid vaccine, 24.1% flu and Td vaccine, and 11% flu vaccine, Td and Covid vaccines together. A statistically significant difference was observed between the ways physicians approached pregnant women who wanted to be vaccinated (p˂0.001). For the flu vaccine; the frequency of recommending flu vaccination to the pregnant women they follow during the flu season (77.6%) by physicians who stated that they had been vaccinated was found to be statistically significantly higher compared to physicians who had not been vaccinated themselves (p=0.019).Although the majority of physicians reported that they learned enough about pregnancy vaccination in the viii medical education they received, the majority (79.3%) also stated that there should be a special training program for pregnancy vaccination in Turkey. Statistically, the majority of those who thought that they had received sufficient information about pregnancy vaccination from physicians during medical education and those who did not think that they wanted a special pregnancy vaccination program stated that they wanted a special pregnancy vaccination program (84.1% and 73.2%, respectively, p = 0.113). Conclusion: It is known that the recommendations of gynecologists and obstetricians regarding vaccination positively affect the vaccination preferences of pregnant women. For this reason, creating special training programs on pregnancy vaccination within the specialty and sub-specialty training programs and in the post graduate period in order to increase the vaccination awareness of gynecologists and obstetricians, especially those who follow pregnant women, may be beneficial in terms of popularizing pregnancy vaccination.In order to increase the pregnancy immunization rate in Turkey, a comprehensive study representing the whole of Turkey can be conducted with gynecologists and obstetricians. According to the results of the study, a training program for pregnancy vaccination can be integrated into gynecology and obstetrics specialization and subspecialty training programs and/or supported by post-graduate courses.