Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is causing widespread concern, fear, stress, anxiety, and depression throughout the population worldwide. Pregnant women, being a vulnerable group, are grossly affected by these changing environmental scenarios. The spread of Corona Virus infection itself and the subsequent nation-wide lockdown in India, just like many other countries, has caused a serious impact on antenatal patients. The objective of this study was to bring out the specific concerns of pregnant women during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and also to assess the prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Disorder owing to the pandemic. STUDY DESIGN: This cross-sectional survey among antenatal patients was conducted in the outpatient department of a tertiary care obstetric center which is also a designated COVID hospital. Prevalidated questionnaires, Personal Health Questionnaire-9 & Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire-7 were used for data collection. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate pregnancy-specific concerns of the patients with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of moderate to severe depression in the survey was found to be 13.2% (n=66). The prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety disorder was found to be 9.8% (n=49). CONCLUSION: This study has brought out the need for urgent attention to the psychological impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women. Pregnant women being a vulnerable group, especially during this pandemic, need special attention to their psychological wellbeing as well.
Highlights
As the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic takes its toll across the world, it is causing widespread concern, fear, stress, anxiety, and depression among all age groups and social strata of people
Nanjundaswamy et al, in their survey conducted amongst Obstetricians across India, have found that the nationwide lockdown has created difficulties for pregnant women to travel to hospitals and to get their scans done on time and caused concerns related to acquiring the infection at hospitals [14]
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) recommends that every pregnant woman be asked about her psychological wellbeing during antenatal visits especially during the COVID-19 pandemic [15]
Summary
As the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic takes its toll across the world, it is causing widespread concern, fear, stress, anxiety, and depression among all age groups and social strata of people. All these human responses are natural reactions to the changing environment. Pregnant women, being considered a vulnerable group, are grossly affected by these changing environmental scenarios. The environmental circumstances where a pregnant woman thrives can adversely affect maternal and neonatal health. The occurrence of anxiety or depression in pregnancy affects the woman’s mental health and is a risk factor for postnatal disorders and may even have effects on the unborn child. Prenatal maternal stress and anxiety, whether at times of disaster or not, are well-established risk factors for preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant health problems and may have long-lasting effects on the offspring [3,4]
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