Fears, perceptions, and concerns on COVID-19 of term pregnant women in a tertiary hospital: A cross-sectional study / Philippine Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#The emergence of the COVID‑19 pandemic has left the vulnerable members of the society at risk, most especially pregnant women. This event has caused anxieties on their pregnancy journey. Their main concerns are the effects and transmissibility of the infection to them and to their unborn child. COVID‑19 significantly affects their mental health status@*Objectives@#The purpose of this study is to determine the fears, perceptions, and common concerns of pregnant women during COVID‑19 in a tertiary hospital in Manila@*Materials and Methods@#This is a prospective, cross‑sectional study design that uses a pretested and validated questionnaire, which directly asks about the fears, perceptions, and common concerns on COVID‑19 among pregnant women. The survey proper was conducted among singleton, term pregnant women aged 18 year old and above@*Results@#The analysis included 313 respondents with a mean (± standard deviation) age of 31 ± 6 years. The three most common fears relayed by the pregnant women were (1) losing their babies if they get COVID‑19 (67.41%); (2) dying if they get the infection (58.79%); and (3) getting a positive test result for COVID‑19 (54.95%). Most of these patients (99.04%) were aware of the changes on their prenatal consultation and health care services. Majority of the participants (53.35%) raised their concerns on the in utero transmission of the virus and nosocomial COVID infection on their newborn from the hospital personnel (42.81%).@*Conclusions@#This study showed that fear is a common emotion among pregnant women. With the emergence of the COVID‑19 pandemic, it exacerbated their fears and raised concerns on the harmful effects that may bring on their well‑being and on their unborn child. This pandemic had caused a significant impact on their mental health