Pandemic Stress and Its Correlates among Pregnant Women during the Second Wave of COVID-19 in Poland

Abstract

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created numerous stressful conditions, especially for vulnerable populations such as pregnant women. Pandemic-related pregnancy stress consists of two dimensions: stress associated with feeling unprepared for birth due to the pandemic (Preparedness Stress), and stress related to fears of perinatal COVID-19 infection (Perinatal Infection Stress). The purpose of our study was to elucidate the association between various factors—sociodemographic, obstetric, pandemic-related, and situational—and pandemic stress in its two dimensions during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Polish pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a total of 1119 pregnant women recruited during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland (between November 2020 and January 2021). Participants were recruited via social media to complete an online study questionnaire that included sociodemographic, obstetric, situational, and COVID-19 pandemic factors, as well as the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS). Results: Nearly 38.5% of participants reported high Preparedness Stress; 26% reported high Perinatal Infection Stress. Multivariate analyses indicated that lack of COVID-19 diagnosis, higher compliance with safety rules and restrictions, and limited access to outdoor space were independently associated with moderate to severe levels of Infection Stress. Current emotional or psychiatric problems, nulliparity, limited access to outdoor space, and alterations to obstetric visits were independently associated with moderate to severe Preparedness Stress. Conclusion: Study findings suggest that particular attention should be focused on the groups of pregnant women who are most vulnerable to pandemic-related stress and therefore may be more prone to adverse outcomes associated with prenatal stress.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Levels of Physical Activity in the Last Trimester, Life Satisfaction and Perceived Stress in Late Pregnancy and in the Early Puerperium

“…In other studies conducted in Poland during the pandemic, a moderate and positive relationship among women was observed between perceived stress, fear of COVID-19 and fear of childbirth [ 24 ]. Ilska et al [ 26 ] noted that during the second wave of the pandemic, almost 38.5% of pregnant women reported high preparedness stress and 26% reported high perinatal infection stress. In turn, Jiang et al [ 62 ] observed that in China in February 2020 the prevalence of perceived stress in pregnancy was 89.1%.…”

“…In our study, we compared the psychophysical condition of women who gave birth during different periods of the pandemic (December 2019–March 2020, May–September 2020, June–September 2021). To our knowledge, there are currently no publications assessing the psychophysical condition of women who gave birth in Poland during three different periods of the pandemic [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among a group of Egyptian women during COVID-19 pandemic

“…The level of pandemic stress in the current study is greater than the level of pandemic stress in previous studies. A study conducted by Ilska [12] on 1,119 pregnant women revealed that approximately one-third of pregnant women reported having elevated levels of both preparedness and infection stress.…”

“…This tool was developed by the researcher after reviewing the related literature. [11,12] Tool (2): The Pandemic -Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS): This tool was adapted from. [13] The Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) is a novel instrument that measures prenatal stress at the time of the pandemic.…”

Faith-Based Women’s Organization Philanthropy in Fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic and Its Impacts: The Case of Aisyiyah in Sidoarjo, Indonesia

“…However, there has lack of attention to the investigation linked to gender issues while at the same time women are recognized as the most vulnerable groups during the pandemic (Ilska, Kołodziej-Zaleska, Brandt-Salmeri, Preis, & Lobel, 2021;Kouassi et al, 2012). The United Nations identifies there are four potential risks experienced by women; a) economically, women feel the impact directly because they generally earn less; b) neglected women's health reallocation of health resources and priorities, including reproductive health services; c) women have an increased workload at home due to changes in social behavior where most activities are carried out from home, including children's school activities; d) there is an increase in gender-based violence increasing exponentially (United-Nation, 2020).…”