Abstract
The mitigation efforts of COVID-19 have led to significant changes to the delivery of routine healthcare globally. In Australia, the way maternal health services have been delivered since the beginning of the pandemic has also changed. Maternity care and support are known to influence maternal mental health. One hundred and eighty-eight English-speaking pregnant women residing in Australia were recruited using social media advertising between September and November 2020 as part of a larger study. Participants were aged between 19 and 42 (M = 31.05, SD = 4.68). Compared with previous Australian prevalence rates of around 7% for antenatal depression, rates in this study were 15.9% overall and 19% for those in Melbourne. Antenatal depression was positively associated with COVID-19 distress in relation to having a baby during a COVID-19 outbreak r(186) = 0.30, p < 0.001. It is suggested that increased vigilance with screening and assessment will be required to identify and support mothers who are not coping during the pandemic.
Highlights
The mitigation efforts of COVID-19 have led to significant changes to the delivery of routine healthcare globally
This paper reports prevalence rates of antenatal depression in Australian women during the second wave of the pandemic and explores the association between antenatal depression and distress in relation to COVID-19
The volume of women in this sample who reported changes to their pregnancy care, along with distress about COVID-19 in relation to their baby, suggests that the reported changes to maternity care may have contributed to the increased prevalence rates of antenatal depression observed; it is beyond the scope of this study to determine this
Summary
The mitigation efforts of COVID-19 have led to significant changes to the delivery of routine healthcare globally. Women have reported fewer routine pregnancy checks, fewer face-to-face appointments and restrictions on birthing practices (e.g., use of water immersion). Women are being asked to birth with less support and attend many appointments alone (e.g., ultrasounds) Some of these decisions seem to be inconsistent with the evidence around COVID-19 mitigation, for example, the issue of water immersion for birthing (Australian College of Midwives, 2020). According to a report by the Australian College of Midwives (Cooper & King, 2020), the psychosocial aspects of women’s pregnancies have been different from what they anticipated and had previously imagined due to community restrictions. Many have been unable to have the desired birthing partner(s) they wanted with them or have experienced uncertainty about who will be able to attend
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