Postnatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on mothers' postnatal sense of security and on mother-to-infant bonding.

BACKGROUND: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic context imposed new living conditions which greatly modified women's experience of the postpartum period and brought significant changes to postnatal care. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic context on maternal sense of security and on mother-to-child bonding in the postpartum. DESIGN: This study had a mixed research design. We compared levels of mother-child bonding disturbances and of maternal emotional security amongst two samples of postnatal women recruited before and during the pandemic. Postnatal depression was also evaluated. A qualitative analysis of the participants' comments on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was performed with an open-coding approach. PARTICIPANTS: Two samples of French-speaking mothers in the first six months after their childbirth, recruited before the pandemic (N=874) and during the pandemic (N=721). FINDINGS: Mother-child bonding disturbances measured with PBQ and levels of emotional security levels evaluated with PPSSi did not differ significantly between the samples. A high prevalence of women at risk of postnatal depression was found in both samples. However, participants' comments on their postnatal experience during the pandemic contrasted with their quantitative data. Fears of contamination, social isolation, and lack of support were the main factors of insecurity. Lack of closeness with relatives and friends, limited presence of the partner in the maternity ward, and early interactions with the newborn with a mask appear to have altered mother-child bonding during this pandemic period. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings highlight the importance of considering social and environmental factors and needs when evaluating postnatal mental health and providing postnatal care to new mothers during a health crisis. Health services and professionals should pay particular attention to mothers' mental health and well-being and guarantee continuity of care to avoid parents' isolation in the sensitive postpartum period.

The role of mothers' self-compassion on mother-infant bonding during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study exploring the mediating role of mindful parenting and parenting stress in the postpartum period.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a challenging time for postpartum mothers, and associated challenges may have a negative impact on their parenting and, consequently, on mother-infant bonding. This study aimed to longitudinally explore whether mothers' self-compassion was associated with mother-infant bonding and whether this relationship was mediated by mindful parenting and parenting stress. A total of 125 Portuguese mothers of infants aged between 0 and 12 months completed an online survey at two assessment points during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (T1: April-May 2020; T2: June-July 2020). The survey included several questionnaires assessing sociodemographic, clinical, and COVID-19 information; self-compassion; mindful parenting; parenting stress; and mother-infant bonding. Mothers presented significantly higher levels of self-compassion, less impaired mother-infant bonding, and lower levels of depressive symptoms at T2 than T1. Higher levels of self-compassion at T1 predicted less impaired mother-infant bonding at T2, and this relationship was mediated by higher levels of mindful parenting and lower levels of parenting stress (both assessed at T1). These results highlight the relevance of mothers' self-compassion to establishing mother-infant bonding in the postpartum period, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the important role of mindful parenting and parenting stress in determining this relationship.

Postpartum during COVID-19 pandemic: Portuguese mothers' mental health, mindful parenting, and mother-infant bonding.

BACKGROUND: Millions of people worldwide have been diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has impacted maternal mental health and mother-infant relationships during the postpartum period. OBJECTIVES: To explore how mothers' anxious and depressive symptoms, parenting stress, mindful parenting, and mother-infant bonding vary as a function of the moment of the baby's birth (pre-COVID-19 or post-COVID-19) and to examine the contribution of those variables to mother-infant bonding. METHODS: The sample was recruited online and comprises 567 mothers (18-46 years) with an infant aged between 0 and 12 months old. RESULTS: Approximately 27.5% of the mothers presented clinically significant levels of anxious and depressive symptoms. Mothers who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic presented lower levels of Emotional Awareness of the Child and a more impaired mother-infant bonding than mothers who gave birth before the pandemic started. Approximately 49% of the mother-infant bonding variance was explained by parenting stress and by several dimensions of mindful parenting. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide important insights into the impact of COVID-19 on maternal mental health and parenting.