Coping strategies in pregnant women with high risk pregnancies during COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Objective. Evaluation of coping strategies in pregnant women with high risk pregnancies during COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods. This was an observational study of pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy admitted for inpatient antenatal monitoring. Women were asked to fill in the Italian version of the Coping Orientation to the Problems Experienced (COPE-NVI). The questionnaire included 5 different dimensions 1) Social support;2) Avoidance strategies;3) Positive attitude;4) Problem solving;5) Turning to religion. We planned to evaluate the COPE-NVI score according to the different maternal or fetal complications. 100 women filled out the questionnaire and were included in the study. Results. 37 were admitted for preeclampsia, 15 for diabetes, 5 for intrahepatic cholestasis, 14 for hyperemesis gravidarum, while 29 had severe intrauterine growth restriction requiring monitoring. The mean COPE-NVI score for social support was 31.5 +/- 8.6, for avoidance strategies 25.1 +/- 6.7, for positive attitude 31.7 +/- 7.3, for problem solving 30.5 +/- 7.5, and for turning to religion 24.9 +/- 5.3. No statistically significant differences were found for the COPE-NVI score within the different maternal or fetal complications, apart for turning to religion, where the score was higher for women with preeclampsia and lower for women with intrahepatic cholestasis (p = 0.01). Conclusions. Women with high risk pregnancies admitted for antenatal inpatient monitoring have a high score at coping strategies.