Effect of an education-support program on the quality of life, preventive behaviors, and fear of COVID-19 in pregnant women referred to health centers of zahedan, Iran, 2021

Abstract

---Introduction: During the outbreak of an infectious disease such as Covid-19, pregnant women are considered a high-risk population due to physiological and anatomical changes during pregnancy. The rapid spread of the virus around the world has led to negative psychological consequences, including fear, especially in pregnant women. Mother's fear has been associated with consequences such as premature delivery or post-term delivery, low birth weight and intrauterine growth restriction. Studies have shown that the psychological consequences of this disease can also affect the quality of life of pregnant women and cause a decrease in the quality of life and affect the health of the mother and baby. People's preventive behaviors, including washing hands, not shaking hands, not kissing, home quarantine, etc., can eliminate the disease cycle. Materials and methods: In this experimental-interventional study, 49 people were assigned to each intervention and control group, and the participants were all mothers who met the conditions to enter the study and were between 16 and 28 weeks pregnant.