Postpartum during COVID-19 pandemic: Portuguese mothers' mental health, mindful parenting, and mother-infant bonding.

Abstract

BackgroundMillions of people worldwide have been diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), which has impacted maternal mental health and mother–infant relationships during the postpartum period.ObjectivesTo explore how mothers' anxious and depressive symptoms, parenting stress, mindful parenting, and mother–infant bonding vary as a function of the moment of the baby's birth (pre‐COVID‐19 or post‐COVID‐19) and to examine the contribution of those variables to mother–infant bonding.MethodsThe sample was recruited online and comprises 567 mothers (18–46 years) with an infant aged between 0 and 12 months old.ResultsApproximately 27.5% of the mothers presented clinically significant levels of anxious and depressive symptoms. Mothers who gave birth during the COVID‐19 pandemic presented lower levels of Emotional Awareness of the Child and a more impaired mother–infant bonding than mothers who gave birth before the pandemic started. Approximately 49% of the mother–infant bonding variance was explained by parenting stress and by several dimensions of mindful parenting.ConclusionOur findings provide important insights into the impact of COVID‐19 on maternal mental health and parenting.