Characteristics and dynamics of the emotional condition and mental health of women during pregnancy and after childbirth in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic has been a powerful and long-term stressor, and pregnant women are among the most vulnerable groups in the population. Modern foreign studies have shown an increase in the level of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder in women during pregnancy and after childbirth in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which, in turn, can affect both the course of pregnancy and childbirth and the development of the child. Meanwhile, there are currently very few domestic studies of these characteristics and their dynamics in women in the pre- and postnatal period.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics and dynamics of the emotional condition and mental health of women during pregnancy and after childbirth in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Ch.D. Spilberger, adapted by Yu.L. Khanin; the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (Adult Self-Report 18–59) by T. Achenbach and L. Rescorla, adapted by E.R. Slobodskaya; the Impact of Event Scale-Revised by D.S. Weiss and C.R. Marmar, adapted by N.V. Tarabrina; socio-biographical questionnaire during pregnancy and after childbirth; and postpartum interview. At the I stage, the study included 248 pregnant women, with the average age of 30.7 (18–44) years and the average gestational age of 31.1 (4–40) weeks. At the II stage, we enrolled 98 women from the initial sample four to six months after childbirth.

RESULTS: Our study showed the presence of predominantly average levels of anxiety, a high frequency of depressive disorder and avoidance, cognitive problems and withdrawal, as well as somatic problems during pregnancy. Pandemic-related post-traumatic stress disorder was identified in 7.7% of pregnant women and 6% of women after childbirth. Analysis of the dynamics of the emotional condition and mental health disorders in women before and after childbirth revealed a significant decrease in the levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (p < 0.01), depressive (p < 0.05) and somatic (p < 0.01) disorders, and avoidance disorder (p < 0.05). Predictors of the emotional condition, post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health disorders in women after childbirth are the same as those during pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS: The study showed a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and avoidance disorders with an average level of anxiety in pregnant women during the pandemic. After childbirth, patients experienced a decrease in depressive, somatic and avoidance disorders, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Keywords

pregnancy / anxiety / depression / post-traumatic stress disorder / emotional condition / mental health / postpartum

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