Fear and anxiety of COVID-19 in pregnant women
Pregnant women are generally concerned about the health of the baby, and the process of delivery. In addition to these pregnancy-driven concerns, there are some other risk factors that are correlated with the prevalence of high anxiety during pregnancy. Accordingly, calamities or natural disasters are one of the factors that could affect the mental health of pregnant women.
The current COVID-19 pandemic is considered an example of natural disaster with a global burden of health. The coronavirus pandemic also causes stress and anxiety for pregnant women all around the world.
The stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by individuals in their daily lives are increased by the social distance-related limitations, which prevent people from establishing communication between relatives, friends, and other people. Pregnant women also face some certain hardships due to the responsibility of taking care of other children and family members. On the other hand, the need for receiving regular care from birth services causes the risk of being exposed to the virus and infections for this population group.
The coronavirus pandemic causes stress and anxiety in pregnant women in different corners of the world. Anxiety and stress in pregnancy may lead to adverse effects, such as preeclampsia, depression, increasing nausea and regurgitation during gestation, preterm birth, low birth weight, and a low Apgar score. Physiological changes during pregnancy may also cause psychological problems, which in turn would lead to the deterioration of the woman’s social and familial roles. Consequently, these changes may cause emotional imbalance, and various problems like stress and anxiety in the mother.
A study showed that fast-moving global health crises like COVID-19 could increase fear and anxiety (Wang et al., 2020). The current COVID-19 pandemic caused an increased anxiety among pregnant women. As these women are concerned about their unborn children and their own health conditions, the COVID-19 concerns can also be considered a factor that impacts mental health.
In Iran, an analysis was carried out regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women. 222 women, aged between 20-40, who left behind the 20th week in pregnancy, were included the study, and the participants were subjected to five surveys, which included the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS), the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Pregnancy Experience Scale (PES), and a demographic checklist.
The results of this study show that the Coronavirus-driven anxiety generally has a direct effect on the mental health disorders during pregnancy. One of the major reasons why anxiety increases during the pandemic era, is the fear of getting infected with COVID-19, and another common reason is the fear of infecting our loved ones with this disease.
As a result, increasing the mother’s awareness on the Coronavirus, and providing her with the information about the risk factors and their effects on the baby are important in terms of preserving the mental health of the pregnant mother.
REFERENCES:
– Salehi, L., Rahimzadeh, M., Molaei, E., Zaheri, H., & Esmaelzadeh‐Saeieh, S. (2020). The relationship among fear and anxiety of COVID‐19, pregnancy experience, and mental health disorder in pregnant women: A structural equation model. Brain and behavior, 10(11), e01835.
