How Covid-19 pandemic influenced air quality in Polish cities – lessons from three lockdowns

The aim of this study was to determine how COVID-19 pandemic influenced air quality in the chosen Polish cities. Data on nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, fine and coarse particulate matter concentrations from air quality monitoring stations was used to compare pollutants levels during the pandemic and in the 5-year pre-pandemic period. The impact of the pandemic on the air quality has been analysed using linear mixed effect models, adjusting for long-term, seasonal and weekly trends and meteorological conditions. Results showed that during the pandemic, until the second lockdown only nitrogen oxides levels were significantly reduced (up to 20%), while when again loosening restrictions the rebound effect led to 20-30% increase of all analysed pollutants. © Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization.

Psychosocial stressors of parenting and the postpartum period during COVID-19

Objective: Pandemic-related changes produced a major shift for parental roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Our objective was to identify parenting challenges experienced by low-income postpartum mothers during a global pandemic lockdown. Study Design: In this qualitative investigation, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 postpartum individuals who gave birth in a single center in Chicago in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic (January-March 2020). Interviews addressed issues related to maternal health and well-being, including parental stress, limited access to essential goods, and COVID-related barriers to providing for children. All interviews were conducted via phone, transcribed, and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results: Of the 40 participants, 50% (n=20) identified as non-Hispanic Black and 38% (n=15) as Hispanic;75% (n=30) were parents of multiple children. The primary parenting-related themes included challenges of parenting multiple children, barriers to self-care, and novel barriers to providing for children (Table). Subthemes within challenges of parenting multiple children include new role as an educator, struggle with entertaining, and time allocation. The barriers to self-care subthemes included lack of free time, changes in self-care and coping strategies, and effects on maternal mental health. The novel barriers to providing for children subthemes included lack of communal support, financial stress, and difficulty obtaining essential needs. Conclusion: Obstetric providers are often a first-line point of contact for postpartum individuals and may benefit from understanding how psychosocial stressors experienced during the pandemic may negatively affect maternal health. Our findings suggest new psychosocial burdens were introduced by the pandemic that challenged individual health and wellbeing during the postpartum period. Findings can inform interventions, which may include enhanced support from the clinical team or connections to community resources, to alleviate postpartum challenges for mothers and their families. [Formula presented]