Health System Shocks & Care Seeking Behaviour: How hasthe COVID-19 pandemic affected care seeking behaviour forpregnant women who belong to ethnic min

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This project aims to gain in-depth insight on how a life course approach can be used to explain care seeking behaviour of pregnant women who belong to an ethnic minority or socially complex group, during a health system shock such as theCOVID-19 pandemic. Pregnant women are more likely to develop severe symptoms of SARS CoV-2 infection and have poorer outcomes in pregnancy. Furthermore, women who belong to an ethnic minority or socially complex group are particularly vulnerable, attributed to social determinants of health and social deprivation. Policy changes, rapid reconfiguration of maternity services, and confusing guidance from the government have led to a reduction initialization of maternity services and hesitancy in vaccination uptake. Care seeking behavior is rooted in dynamic social contexts, making it imperative to analyse how populations engage with health systems. I will use a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design: first investigating clinical quantitative data to find comparative rates of care seeking differences within groups, followed by an exploration of qualitative data from participatory appraisal activities and in-depth interviews with women in South London to explain and elaborate statistical findings. Using interdisciplinary social and medical science research, the project will explore how pregnant women respond to policy changes in the health system and help inform future policy development tomanage imminent health system shocks.