ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic on March 2020, emerging as a major stressful life event with a significant impact on mental health, particularly in pregnant and postpartum women. Perinatal mental disorders are common health problems during child-bearing period and are associated with adverse maternal and fetal/infant outcomes. Thus, it is important to understand how women experienced their pregnancy and transition to motherhood while dealing with concerns about their health, risk of infection, as well as the social distancing and confinement measures implemented worldwide to contain the spread of the virus. This chapter aims to summarize the evidence available so far regarding changes in perinatal practices and mental health treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, characterization of the psychological impact assessed in terms of perinatal depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, pregnancy loss, and risk factors that have been associated with greater perinatal psychopathology during COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we will present the major practical implications of COVID-19 pandemic on perinatal mental health and future steps that need to be undertaken. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pregnancy as a sensitive period of a woman's life can be affected by various psychological factors. Covid-19 pandemic is a new phenomenon;and there is limited information about its psychological consequences such as the Coronavirus disease anxiety in these women. So, the present study aimed to determine the level of Covid-19 anxiety in the third trimester of pregnancy and its related factors.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pregnancy as a sensitive period of a woman's life can be affected by various psychological factors. Covid-19 pandemic is a new phenomenon;and there is limited information about its psychological consequences such as the Coronavirus disease anxiety in these women. So, the present study aimed to determine the level of Covid-19 anxiety in the third trimester of pregnancy and its related factors. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 215 pregnant women with 28-33 weeks of gestational age were studied. The samples were selected from the health centers and hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, by cluster sampling. A questionnaire of Demographic, fertility and Coronavirus-related factors as well as the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (including psychological and physical components) were completed by the mothers in person. The data was analyzed by SPSS-24 software using One-way analysis of variance, independent t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests. Result: The results showed that the mean score of Corona disease anxiety in pregnant women was 11.45 +/- 7.56. Anxiety was reported to be low in 62.8% of pregnant women, moderate in 32.6% and high in 4.6%. The mean score of the psychological component (8.40 +/- 4.78) was higher than the score of the physical component (3.06 +/- 3.59). Working women, women with client-related occupations, and those having a working husband had lower anxiety scores. Factors such as death of family members due to Coronavirus disease and higher gestational age were associated with a significant increase in Corona anxiety score. Conclusion: Considering that death of a family member due to Coronavirus disease and higher gestational age are associated with higher Coronavirus disease anxiety, the results of this study can be used to identify high-risk pregnant women and suggest early psychological interventions for preventing pregnancy anxiety complications.