Fear of contagion and being separated from the baby after birth, among the factors that have worsened the mental health of pregnant women during the pandemic
The ibs.GRANADA and the University of Granada have led a macro-study with more than 30.000 pregnant women
The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have caused, among other concerns, fear of not receiving good medical care
Isolation, distance from loved ones, greater exposure to the risks of the disease and fear of not receiving adequate health care are just some of the reasons that have contributed to worsening the mental health of pregnant women during pregnancy. COVID-19 pandemic. This is demonstrated by a macro-study led by the research group Hygia of the ibs.GRANADA and the Nursing Department of the UGR.
During the investigation, carried out with more than 30.000 pregnant women, higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression were detected. The mental health of the population has been harmed in general terms, but pregnant women have suffered this facet of the pandemic more intensely.
"These women are more vulnerable to infection by the virus, which has generated great concern, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, when there was uncertainty and very limited information," explains one of the participating researchers, Blanca Riquelme. Gallego, belonging to the Biomarkers of Bone and Metabolic Diseases research group at ibs.GRANADA.
This has caused the isolation of pregnant women during the pregnancy period and the distance from their loved ones at times when there is a great need for support. On the other hand, many of these women have not attended some of the pregnancy control consultations in person due to fear of getting infected, for example, on the way to the health center. "The concerns and doubts of these women have not been resolved, which could have caused them even more concern," details another of the researchers, Rafael Caparrós González, coordinator of the GESTACOVID project.
Equally decisive, according to the study, are the social and economic problems to which women have been exposed, one of the elements that explains the rise in psychological difficulties in the general population. The economic crisis generated after the hard confinement has been a source of stress, at the moment in which it directly affects the person or a family member.
The scientific team considers it necessary to implement symptom detection strategies, especially in pregnant women, "since their consequences on maternal and fetal health can be very serious."
Fear of contagion and not receiving adequate care
A second study, also led by the University of Granada, specifies how pregnant women have experienced high levels of specific stress due to the pandemic. This stress refers to that caused by the circumstances of the COVID-19 disease and is related to the fear of becoming infected, of not receiving adequate health care, not receiving enough food or that the newborn may be separated from its mother after birth. birth.
The research has analyzed the impact of gender violence. As described by the researchers Natalia Bueso and Julia Daugherty in the scientific article, the mental health of pregnant women during COVID-19 has also been related to violent events with the partner. Thus, women who have reported violence by their partner have shown a greater probability of suffering from psychopathology.
In the future, studies try to decipher whether the adverse effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic have an impact on fetal and child development. The researcher Rafael Caparrós González argues that, although babies are partially protected in the womb, "during pregnancy, the maternal environment can affect their development and health after birth, thus determining the diseases that these boys and girls will have throughout of his whole life."