ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aimed to assess the exclusive breastfeeding and contraceptive methods among women delivering within 1-week of a positive test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Materials and methods: In this study, 106 women with SARS-CoV-2 infection who were either asymptomatic or had mild disease were included. They were admitted for maternity care at a tertiary center between May to September 2020. The data was collected during their hospital stay and subsequently by telephonic or in-person interviews at 4-6 weeks and 8-10 weeks postpartum for contraceptive use, breastfeeding and use of facemask and hand-hygiene. Results: Sixty-three (59.4%) women had vaginal delivery and 43 (40.6%) required cesarean-section. Only one of the 98 newborns who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 turned out positive. Initiation of breastfeeding was delayed by an average of three days due to preparing the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) report. Exclusive breastfeeding was practiced by 69% and mixed feeding by 26%.Pre breastfeeding hand hygiene and facemask use declined after discharge (100% to 53.75% at 8-10 weeks postpartum). Out of 106, 86 (81%) women used no contraception at 8-10 weeks postpartum, continued with post-placental-IUD in 8/106 (7.5%) and tubal-sterilization during cesarean in 8/106 (7.5%) cases. Only 4/106 (4%) adopted alternative methods like barrier contraception. Conclusion: The practice of exclusive breastfeeding remains unchanged among women who suffered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in the peripartum period while uptake of postpartum contraception was minimal except for the women who opted for long term contraceptive methods in the immediate postpartum period.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Maternal mental health is a largely ignored issue in the Indian population. Considering the high prevalence of postpartum depression, mental health assessment and screening of high-risk cases should be a part of routine antenatal care. AIM: To study the prevalence of women at risk for peripartum depression using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score in a tertiary teaching hospital in New Delhi, and to study the associated risk factors in the Indian population. METHOD: Five hundred and six (506) peripartum women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, which included sociodemographic details like socioeconomic status, family structure, relationship with husband and mother-in-law, past obstetric history and gender of children, any history of previous psychiatric illness and outcome of current pregnancy in terms of mode of delivery, gender of newborn and neonatal complications. EPDS scoring was done using a Hindi translated version. Data were analysed using Epi Info version 3.32. RESULTS: Thirty one (6%) out of 506 women scored ≥ 10 on the EPDS. Birth of female child, nuclear family structure and poor marital relationship were found to have a statistically significant correlation with peripartum depression. CONCLUSION: The 6% prevalence of women at risk of peripartum depression in our study, which is similar to other such studies, is significant and hence maternal mental health assessment should be made a part of routine antenatal and postnatal care.
