Every person who’s given birth has a story – whether they’ve ever told that story or not. For those who gave birth during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, those stories are likely to include challenges and tough choices: family members kept away from the hospital; masking rules; anxiety about the virus itself. The pandemic even saw a spike in non-hospital births in Canada, as more parents chose to give birth at home or in a birthing centre.
Danielle Macdonald, assistant professor in nursing at Queen’s, focuses her research on global experiences of birthing care. Her work in progress, funded by an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced experiences of birth.
An earlier systematic review by Dr. Macdonald and other researchers, published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances in 2025, shows that worldwide, the changes to protocols influenced how birthing care was delivered, creating more variations in experiences.
But what did that global reality mean for an individual in Canada?
“I was really curious to see what that experience was like here in the Kingston area,” says Dr. Macdonald. “Through this research, we’ve been able to talk with women and health-care providers to see what their experiences were.”
The study focuses on nine women and seven health-care providers in Kingston, covering births between March 2020 and September 2021. It’s a qualitative study, drawing primarily on interviews but also on documents such as protocols, regulations, and meeting notes.
As the project progresses through the analysis phase, Dr. Macdonald says she’s been struck by the ways in which the uncertainties and restrictions of the pandemic affected birth experiences in Kingston. Separation from loved ones sometimes created distress during an important life moment – a time that can involve stressful decisions and discussions, and a time of celebration and welcoming new life.
Although the restrictions were challenging for everyone, experiences during the pandemic may also expose some of the downsides of expectations put onto women and birthing people (an inclusive term increasingly used in perinatal care) in non-pandemic times. For example, hosting a steady stream of visitors can be a source of stress in the hours during and after giving birth.
Dr. Macdonald has also been struck by how dedicated health-care providers were to the families in their care, doing their very best under the circumstances and adapting to ever-shifting policies.
This research may suggest ways in which we could do better for women and birthing people, their families, and health-care providers – not only in a pandemic or other emergency, but all the time.
“I think the findings from this work provide an opportunity for us to reflect and think about how we ensure that we’re providing person-centred care, where everybody who’s a part of that care experience has an opportunity to flourish.”
