Parenting a newborn baby during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative survey

Abstract

ObjectiveThe COVID-19 pandemic caused long periods of lockdown, social isolation and intense challenges for parents. This study examines parenting in an infant cohort born at the pandemic onset.MethodsThe CORAL study is a prospective longitudinal observational study looking at allergy, immune function and neurodevelopmental outcome in babies born between March and May 2020. Demographic information was collected, babies were reviewed at 6-monthly intervals, and serology for COVID-19 infection was recorded. When babies were 12 months old, parents were asked for 3–5 words to describe raising a baby during the pandemic. Frequency of word usage was compared between first time parents and parents with other children, and parents of babies with and without a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.Results354 babies were recruited to CORAL study. Social circles were small. At 6 months the median number of people (including parents) who had kissed the baby was 3, and by 12 months one-quarter of babies had never met another child of similar age. 304 parents completed the word choice. Commonly reported words were lonely (44.4%), isolating (31.9%) and strong bond (15.8%). 12 of those 304 babies had COVID-19 in their first year of life and there was no significant difference in reported negative or positive word number compared with parents of babies without a COVID-19 infection, or by first time parents or those who already had children.ConclusionThe lockdowns and social restrictions made raising an infant challenging for all parents in Ireland. It is important parents know this was a shared experience.

Social communication skill attainment in babies born during the COVID-19 pandemic: a birth cohort study

“…These findings may also be linked to one or both parents (due to home working) and siblings (out of school and day care) being in close proximity and anticipating babies’ needs before the need for pointing arises. There was also a reduction in the babies’ ability to wave bye-bye which is likely due to a reduction in number of opportunities where babies can learn to wave bye-bye due to reduced social contacts 1. However, it is worth noting that the overall relative risk reductions in this study are small and it is hoped that these infants will catch up with their pre-pandemic peers quickly once restrictions are lifted.…”

“…Stringent lockdown, used to control the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to babies and their families spending more time at home than babies from previous years. We recently demonstrated that families of babies in the CORAL cohort had a median of one social contact outside the home at birth, increasing to four when the babies reached 6 months of age 1. This may have impacted on parents’ experience of raising a child during the pandemic, as many parents noted that they were isolated 1.…”

“…We recently demonstrated that families of babies in the CORAL cohort had a median of one social contact outside the home at birth, increasing to four when the babies reached 6 months of age 1. This may have impacted on parents’ experience of raising a child during the pandemic, as many parents noted that they were isolated 1. In addition, we found that social isolation restrictions lead to 25% of infants not having met a child their own age by their first birthday, which will have led to a reduction in social peer interaction 1.…”

“…Prior to vaccination, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic was managed with sustained mass lockdowns and adult mask wearing outside the home, to prevent spread of infection. Babies born during the early stages of the pandemic missed the opportunity of meeting a normal social circle of people outside the family home, including other babies and grandparents 1. Ireland spent the majority of period March 2020–April 2021 in maximal (level 5; no home visitors, stay at home except for essential purposes, exercise within 2–5 km of home, essential retail only, unable to sit in restaurants/cafes, work from home unless essential worker) lockdown and so babies spent most of the first year of their lives in social isolation.…”

“…Babies born during the early stages of the pandemic missed the opportunity of meeting a normal social circle of people outside the family home, including other babies and grandparents. 1 Ireland spent the majority of period March 2020–April 2021 in maximal (level 5; no home visitors, stay at home except for essential purposes, exercise within 2–5 km of home, essential retail only, unable to sit in restaurants/cafes, work from home unless essential worker) lockdown and so babies spent most of the first year of their lives in social isolation. While social communication has been shown to be impaired in animal models that were isolated at a young age, 2 3 few papers have been published exploring social communication development in children who had early life social isolation, 4 5 particularly with respect to COVID-19-related isolation.…”