Anxiety in Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic because of its rapid and extensive spread. Pregnant women are one of the groups vulnerable to COVID-19, and COVID-19 can have an impact on their psychology, including anxiety. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of anxiety in pregnant women, and the related factors, effects and efforts made in dealing with anxiety in pregnant women during the pandemic. The study involved a literature review, and 10 articles were included. These articles were found by searching for keywords including pregnancy, anxiety, Coronavirus, and COVID-19. Four of the articles discussed the anxiety levels of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, two articles discussed factors related to this anxiety, two articles discussed the effects of this anxiety, and two articles discussed the efforts of pregnant women to handle their anxiety during the pandemic. According to the results, most of the pregnant women experienced psychological changes and an increase in anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The factors that affected the level of anxiety included a lack of family support, social isolation, and geographical differences.


Keywords: pregnant woman, anxiety, COVID-19, literature review

References
[1] Yuliana Y. Corona virus disease (Covid-19): A literature review. Weleness Heal Mag. 2020;2:124–137.

[2] World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). WHO.

[3] Kementrian Kesehatan. Jumlah korban covid-19. 2020.

[4] Kajdy A, Feduniw S, Ajdacka U, et al. Risk factors for anxiety and depression among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based cross-sectional survey. Medicine (Baltimore). 99.

[5] Panahi L, Amiri M, Pouy S. Risks of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in pregnancy; A narrative review. Archives of academic emergency medicine. 8.

[6] Guan W, Ni Z, Hu Y, et al. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. New England journal of medicine. 2020;382:1708–1720.

[7] Dashraath P, Wong JLJ, Lim MXK, et al. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic and pregnancy. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology. 2020;222:521–531.

[8] Goyal K, Chauhan P, Chhikara K, et al. Fear of COVID 2019: First suicidal case in India.

[9] Chen H, Selix N, Nosek M. Perinatal anxiety and depression during COVID-19. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 2021;17:26–31.

[10] Tantona MD. Anxiety disorders in pregnant women during Covid-19 pandemic. Jurnal Penelitian Perawat Profesional. 2020;2:381–392.

[11] Purwaningsih H. Analisis masalah psikologis pada ibu hamil selama masa pandemi Covid-19: Literature review. Paper presented at: Seminar nasional kebidanan; 2020. 7p.

[12] Wulandari SR, Melina F, Kuswanti I, et al. Respon psikologis perempuan hamil selama masa pandemi covid-19. Jurnal Kesehatan. 11.

[13] Corbett GA, Milne SJ, Hehir MP, et al. Health anxiety and behavioural changes of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology. 2020;249:96.

[14] Liu CH, Erdei C, Mittal L. Risk factors for depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in perinatal women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry research. 2021; 295:113552.

[15] Lebel C, MacKinnon A, Bagshawe M, et al. Elevated depression and anxiety symptoms among pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of affective disorders. 2020;277:5–13.

[16] Derya YA, Altiparmak S, Emine A, et al. Pregnancy and birth planning during COVID- 19: The effects of tele-education offered to pregnant women on prenatal distress and pregnancy-related anxiety. Midwifery. 2021;92:102877.

[17] Salehi L, Rahimzadeh M, Molaei E, et al. The relationship among fear and anxiety of COVID-19, pregnancy experience, and mental health disorder in pregnant women: A structural equation model. Brain and behavior. 2020;10:01835.

[18] Durankus F, Aksu E. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnant women: A preliminary study. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine. 2020:1–7.