A Survey Among Italian Pregnant Women and New-mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

Stampini, Viviana; Monzani, Alice; Caristia, Silvia; Ferrante, Gianluigi; Gerbino, Martina; Amadori, Roberta; Rabbone, Ivana; Surico, Daniela

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-50602/v1

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Our results were similar to two studies, one from the United Kingdom [8] and the other from Italy [13], which showed that the Covid-19 lockdown led to distress for parents who reported social isolation as a key challenge. The United Kingdom study also reported that lockdown led to shorter hospital stays, changes to the delivery plans, a lack of breastfeeding support, challenges accessing healthcare, limited social support and mental health difficulties [8], findings corroborated by our study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Lockdown babies- Birth and new parenting experiences during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa

Farley¹,

Edwards²,

Numanoglu³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Perceived birth experiences of parents can have a lasting impact on children. We explored the birth and new parenting experiences of South African parents during the Covid-19 lockdown. Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional survey with consenting parents of babies born in South Africa during 2020. Factors associated with negative birth emotions and probable depression were estimated using logistic regression. Results Most of the 520 respondents were females (n= 496, 95%) who gave birth at private hospitals (n=426, 86%). Mothers reported having overall positive birth emotions (n= 399, 80%). Multivariable analysis showed that having the baby during lockdown (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 5.02; CI 1.28-19.66); being diagnosed with Covid-19 (aOR 3.17; CI 1.07-9.42); having negative new parenting emotions (aOR 6.07; CI 3.27-11.29); a preterm baby (aOR 3.02; CI 1.36-6.70) and lockdown related barring of preferred in hospital support (aOR 2.45; CI 1.35-4.43) were associated with mothers reporting predominately negative emotions about the birth. Having their chosen delivery method reduced the odds of negative birth emotions (aOR 0.4; CI 0.22-0.72). Multivariable analysis showed that having predominantly negative new parenting emotions (aOR 10.75; CI 5.41-21.37), breastfeeding struggles (aOR 2.16; CI 1.36-3.46); lockdown preventing health care access (aOR 2.06; CI 1.20-3.54) and creating financial strain (aOR 2.58; CI 1.08-6.18) were associated with probable minor depression Conclusions Lockdown exacerbated many birth and parenting challenges including mental health and health care access. However, overall experiences were positive and there was a strong sense of resilience amongst parents.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Lockdown babies- Birth and new parenting experiences during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa

Farley¹,

Edwards²,

Numanoglu³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Pregnant women may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of COVD-19 public health measures (Caparros-Gonzalez & Alderdice, 2020), both because they represent the demographic most affected and because pregnancy itself entails significant life changes that require major psychosocial and emotional adjustments (Dunkel Schetter, 2011). Early reports from the current cohort (Lebel, MacKinnon, Bagshawe, Tomfohr-Madsen, & Giesbrecht, 2020) and other cohorts around the world (Ceulemans, Hompes, & Foulon, 2020;Davenport, Meyer, Meah, Strynadka, & Khurana, 2020;Durankus & Aksu, 2020;Patabendige, Gamage, Weerasinghe, & Jayawardane, 2020;Stampini et al, 2020;Taubman-Ben-Ari, Chasson, Abu Sharkia, & Weiss, 2020;Wu et al, 2020) show that symptoms of depression and anxiety have increased dramatically among pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, with greater social isolation and disease fears appearing to predict greater risk of elevated symptoms.…”

Section: There Is a Need To Understand The Effects Of Pandemics On Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol for the Canadian Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic study

Giesbrecht¹

2020

Preprint

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BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and countermeasures implemented by governments around the world have led to dramatically increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Pregnant women may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of COVD-19 public health measures, because they represent a demographic that is most affected by disasters and because pregnancy itself entails significant life changes that require major psychosocial and emotional adjustments. The Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic (PdP) study was designed to investigate the associations between exposure to objective hardship caused by the pandemic, perceived stress and psychological distress in pregnant individuals, and developmental outcomes in their offspring.MethodsThe PdP study comprises a prospective longitudinal cohort of pregnant individuals (at enrollment) with repeated follow-ups during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Participants were eligible if they were: pregnant, ≥17 years, ≤35 weeks gestation at study enrollment, living in Canada, and able to read and write in English or French. Participant recruitment via social media (Facebook, Instagram) began on April 5, 2020 and is ongoing. At enrollment, participants completed an initial survey that assessed demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, previous pregnancies and births, pre-pregnancy health, health conditions during pregnancy, medications, psychological distress, social support, and hardships experienced because of COVID-19 (e.g., lost employment, loved one dying). For the first three months following the initial survey, participants received a monthly email link to complete a follow-up survey that asked about experiences since the previous survey. After three months, follow-up surveys were sent bi-monthly to reduce participant burden. For each of these surveys, participants were first asked if they were still pregnant and then routed either to the next prenatal survey or to the delivery survey. In the postpartum, surveys were sent at 3-, 6-, and 12-months of infant age to assess maternal psychological distress and infant development.DiscussionThis longitudinal investigation seeks to elucidate the associations between hardships, maternal psychological distress, child development during COVID-19, and risk and resilience factors that amplify or ameliorate these associations. Findings are intended to generate knowledge about the psychological consequences of pandemics on pregnant individuals and point toward prevention and intervention targets.

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“…Pregnant individuals may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of public health measures related to COVID-19 [17], both because they represent the demographic most affected by disasters and because pregnancy itself entails significant life changes that require major psychosocial and emotional adjustments [18]. An early report from the current cohort [19] and other cohorts around the world [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] show that symptoms of depression and anxiety have increased dramatically among pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, with greater fears surrounding social isolation and disease appearing to predict a greater risk of elevated symptoms.…”

Section: A Need To Understand the Effects Of Pandemics On Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol for the Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic (PdP) Study: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mental Health Among Pregnant Canadians During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Developmental Outcomes in Their Children (Preprint)

Giesbrecht¹,

Bagshawe²,

Sloten³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic and countermeasures implemented by governments around the world have led to dramatically increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Pregnant individuals may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of COVID-19 public health measures because they represent a demographic that is most affected by disasters and because pregnancy itself entails significant life changes that require major psychosocial and emotional adjustments. OBJECTIVE The PdP study was designed to investigate the associations among exposure to objective hardship caused by the pandemic, perceived stress and psychological distress in pregnant individuals, and developmental outcomes in their offspring. METHODS The PdP study comprises a prospective longitudinal cohort of individuals who were pregnant at enrollment, with repeated follow-ups during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Participants were eligible if they were pregnant, ≥17 years old, at ≤35 weeks of gestation at study enrollment, living in Canada, and able to read and write in English or French. At enrollment, participants completed an initial survey that assessed demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, previous pregnancies and births, prepregnancy health, health conditions during pregnancy, medications, psychological distress, social support, and hardships experienced because of the COVID-19 pandemic (eg, lost employment or a loved one dying). For the first three months following the initial survey, participants received a monthly email link to complete a follow-up survey that asked about their experiences since the previous survey. After three months, follow-up surveys were sent every other month to reduce participant burden. For each of these surveys, participants were first asked if they were still pregnant and then routed either to the next prenatal survey or to the delivery survey. In the postpartum period, surveys were sent at 3, 6, and 12 months of infant age to assess maternal stress, psychological distress, and infant development. RESULTS Participant recruitment via social media (Facebook and Instagram) began on April 5, 2020, and is ongoing. As of April 2021, more than 11,000 individuals have started the initial survey. Follow-up data collection is ongoing. CONCLUSIONS This longitudinal investigation seeks to elucidate the associations among hardships, maternal psychological distress, child development during the COVID-19 pandemic, and risk and resilience factors that amplify or ameliorate these associations. The findings of this study are intended to generate knowledge about the psychological consequences of pandemics on pregnant individuals and point toward prevention and intervention targets. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/25407

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A Survey Among Italian Pregnant Women and New-mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Lockdown babies- Birth and new parenting experiences during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa

Lockdown babies- Birth and new parenting experiences during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa

Protocol for the Canadian Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic study

Protocol for the Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic (PdP) Study: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mental Health Among Pregnant Canadians During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Developmental Outcomes in Their Children (Preprint)

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