Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the postpartum experience of women living in Eastern Canada during the early pandemic period: A cross-sectional study.
J Nurs Scholarsh
; 2022 Nov 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2229545
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To (1) compare changes in parenting self-efficacy, social support, postpartum anxiety, and postpartum depression in Canadian women before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic; (2) explore how women with a newborn felt during the pandemic; (3) explore ways that women coped with challenges faced.METHODS:
A cross-sectional design was used. Prior to the pandemic, an online survey was conducted with women who an infant 6 months old or less in one of the three Eastern Canadian Maritime provinces. A similar survey was conducted during the pandemic in mid-2020.RESULTS:
Pre-COVID, 561 women completed the survey, and 331 women during the pandemic. There were no significant differences in parenting self-efficacy, social support, postpartum anxiety, and depression between the cohorts. Difficulties that women reported because of COVID-19 restrictions included lack of support from family and friends, fear of COVID-19 exposure, feeling isolated and uncertain, negative impact on perinatal care experience, and hospital restrictions. Having support from partners and families, in-person/virtual support, as well as engaging in self-care and the low prevalence of COVID-19 during the summer of 2020 helped women cope. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Women identified challenges and negative impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although no differences in psychosocial outcomes were found. Consideration of public health policy during the postpartum period for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is needed.CONCLUSION:
While there were no significant differences in psychosocial outcomes, there were still challenges and negative impacts that women identified.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Nursing
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jnu.12843
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