Evaluating the Association Between Maternal Peripartum Care Interruptions and Infant Affect: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The effect of maternal COVID-19 pandemic-related stress during pregnancy on children born during this time is unknown. We aimed to evaluate whether maternal stress related to disruption in birth experiences during the pandemic was associated with infant temperament. Data were drawn from the NYU COVID-19 and Perinatal Experiences (COPE) Study (3/2020-7/2021) that addressed perinatal care disruptions during the height of the pandemic in New York City. Any negative birth experience (e.g., limited support people at delivery, neonate separation, etc.) was defined as a perinatal stressor. To measure infant temperament, mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) at 6 months of age for their infants. To characterize infant temperament, we used three broad components of the IBQ-Very Short Form: Negative Emotionality (NEG), Positive Affectivity (PAS), and Orienting and Regulatory Capacity (ORC). We examined the associations using ANOVA, t-test, Χ2, & Fisher’s exact test with significance defined as p < 0.05. There were 83 mother-infant pairs with complete COPE and IBQ survey data. Table 1 shows that the groups with and without a stressor had similar demographics. ORC scores were higher in infants of mothers with perinatal stress (adjusted mean ORC scores = 5.4 ± 0.1 v. 5.1 ± 0.1, p = 0.01). There was no significant difference between PAS and NEG scoring between groups. (Table 2) Maternal birth experience stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic were positively associated with infant ORC. Higher ORC scores reflect positive infant regulatory function, including soothability, cuddliness and low-intensity pleasure. Disruptions in perinatal care were not associated with infant temperament measures of PAS or NEG. Thus, there is no clear association between the acute stress of COVID pandemic-related care disruptions and infant temperament. However, these data indicate that maternal care may vary with pandemic experiences, which may be an important avenue for further investigation.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)