Mental Health Status of Pregnant Women and Breastfeeding Mothers During COVID-19 Outbreak in Bangladesh

Abstract

In March 2020, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a public health emergency of international concern. Studies have suggested a higher prevalence of mental health problems during this pandemic among the general population in Bangladesh. However, there was no information regarding the mental health problems of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers as this pandemic poses a threat to these specific population's mental health. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess pregnant and breastfeeding women's mental health status during the COVID 19 pandemic in Bangladesh. In the present study, data were collected from a sample of 201 pregnant women and 279 breastfeeding mothers via an online survey. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale -21 (DASS-21) and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) were utilized to assess the mental problems in this study. Results suggested 39.31% had moderate to extremely severe depression symptoms, 43.29% had moderate to extremely severe anxiety symptoms, 28.86% moderate to extremely severe stress symptoms, and 11.42% COVID-19 anxiety symptoms among pregnant women. For the breastfeeding mothers, these ratios were 39.78%, 36.98%, 26.16%, and 12.90%, respectively. Breastfeeding mothers who were students had higher depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms compared to housewives and job holder mothers. Mothers who gave birth for the first time had a higher depression ratio than mothers who had previously delivered babies. These findings suggested the strong need for heightened assessment and treatment of mental health for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers during the current pandemic.Funding: None to declare. Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: The Ethical Review Committee of the Noakhali University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, has approved this study (ERB No: 66/2021, dated: 10/02/2021). This study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.