COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and New Mothers' Mental Health: A Qualitative Scoping Review.

Public health restrictions to protect physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic had unintended effects on mental health, which may have disproportionately affected some potentially vulnerable groups. This scoping review of qualitative research provides a narrative synthesis of new mothers' perspectives on their mental health during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions through pregnancy to the postpartum period. Database searches in PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO sought primary research studies published until February 2023, which focused on new mothers' self-perceived mental health during the pandemic (N = 55). Our synthesis found that new mothers' mental health was impacted by general public health restrictions resulting in isolation from family and friends, a lack of community support, and impacts on the immediate family. However, public health restrictions specific to maternal and infant healthcare were most often found to negatively impact maternal mental health, namely, hospital policies prohibiting the presence of birthing partners and in-person care for their infants. This review of qualitative research adds depth to previous reviews that have solely examined the quantitative associations between COVID-19 public health restrictions and new mothers' mental health. Here, our review demonstrates the array of adverse impacts of COVID-19 public health restrictions on new mothers' mental health throughout pregnancy into the postpartum period, as reported by new mothers. These findings may be beneficial for policy makers in future public health emergency planning when evaluating the impacts and unintended consequences of public health restrictions on new mothers.

Cohort profile update: The Canadian Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals Child Development study (MIREC-CD PLUS).

BACKGROUND: The pan-Canadian Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study was established to determine whether maternal environmental chemical exposures were associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in 2001 pregnant women. OBJECTIVES: The MIREC-Child Development (CD PLUS) study followed this cohort with the goal of assessing the potential effects of prenatal exposures on anthropometry and neurodevelopment in early childhood. POPULATION: MIREC families with children between the ages of 15 months and 5 years who had agreed to be contacted for future research (n = 1459) were invited to participate in MIREC-CD PLUS which combines data collected from an online Maternal Self-Administered Questionnaire with biomonitoring and neurodevelopment data collected from two in-person visits. PRELIMINARY RESULTS: Between April 2013 and March 2015, 803 children participated in the Biomonitoring visit where we collected anthropometric measures, blood, and urine from the children. The Behavioural Assessment System for Children-2, Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function, MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories and the Communication subscale of the Adaptive Behaviour Scale from the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III are available on close to 900 children. There were 610 singleton children who completed in-person visits for neurodevelopment assessments including the Social Responsiveness Scale, Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence-III and NEuroPSYchological assessments (NEPSY). Currently, we are following the cohort into early adolescence to measure the impact of early life exposures on endocrine and metabolic function (MIREC-ENDO). CONCLUSIONS: Data collection for the MIREC-CD PLUS study is complete and analysis of the data continues. We are now extending the follow-up of the cohort into adolescence to measure the impact of early life exposures on endocrine and metabolic function (MIREC-ENDO). MIREC-CD PLUS is limited by loss to follow-up and the fact that mothers are predominately of higher socioeconomic status and 'White' ethnicity, which limits our generalizability. However, the depth of biomonitoring and clinical measures in MIREC provides a platform to examine associations of prenatal, infancy and childhood exposures with child growth and development.

Mitochondrial disease registries worldwide: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial diseases are a large group of genetically heterogeneous and clinically diverse disorders. Diagnosis often takes many years for which treatment may not exist. Registries are often used to conduct research, establish natural disease progression, engage the patient community, and develop best disease management practices. In Canada, there are limited centralized registries for mitochondrial disease patients, presenting a challenge for patients and professionals. OBJECTIVE: To support the creation of such a registry, a systematic scoping review was conducted to map the landscape of mitochondrial disease patient registries worldwide, with a focus on registry design and challenges. Furthermore, it addresses a knowledge gap by providing a narrative synthesis of published literature that describes these registries. METHODS: Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework was followed to systematically search English-language literature in PubMed and CINAHL describing the designs of mitochondrial disease patient registries, supplemented by a grey literature search. Data were extracted in Microsoft Excel. Stakeholder consultations were also performed with patient caregivers, advocates, and researchers to provide perspectives beyond those found in the literature. These data were thematically analyzed and were reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 17 articles were identified describing 13 unique registries located in North America, Europe, Australia, and West Asia. These papers described the registries' designs, their strengths, and weaknesses, as well as their tangible outcomes such as facilitating recruitment for research and supporting epidemiological studies. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings in this review, recommendations were formulated. These include establishing registry objectives, respecting patients and their roles in the registry, adopting international data standards, data evaluations, and considerations to privacy legislation, among others. These recommendations could be used to support designing a future Canadian mitochondrial disease patient registry, and to further research directly engaging these registries worldwide.