Pregnancy during a pandemic: perinatal effects of prolonged stress and ways of correction

Abstract

This article presents current data about the perinatal effects of prolonged stress on pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The peculiarities of the postcovid syndrome in general and in the female population in particular are determined. Peculiarities of pregnancy and perinatal consequences after coronavirus infection, as well as manifestations of postcovid syndrome in this group of women are considered. There is an increase in the frequency of anxiety and depressive disorders in pregnant women and women in labor during the pandemic and their impact on the fetal brain and its subsequent mental state.The specific effects of long-term stress have been identified: it has become known that pregnant women during the pandemic are exposed to prolonged stress, which affects the course of gestation. Among the most common conditions under the stressors impact (illness of the woman or her close environment, loss of relatives and acquaintances, existence in limited physical and communication space, deterioration of financial condition, etc.) should be noted the increasing risk of abortion up to 17–28%; exacerbation during pregnancy of chronic somatic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, chronic pancreatitis, neurological and mental illness, etc.); increase in body mass index on the eve of pregnancy and pathological weight gain; strengthening of nutritional deficiencies (folate, iron, magnesium, vitamin D, iodine, etc.).The timely detection and possible ways to correct these conditions are considered, given the transition to remote methods of monitoring pregnant women in quarantine. Organizational , treatment and prevention measures with inclusion of micronized progesterone, magnesium citrate, folate (metafolin) and vitamin D, as well as methods of psychoprophylaxis and psychotherapy are also proposed. Magnesium is of particular importance in pregnant women, it has neuroprotective and metabolic properties, in particular when used as a citrate in soluble form. The main directions of rehabilitation measures for pregnant women and women in labor after COVID-19 have been formulated.