The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 among Women Accessing Family Care Centers during Pregnancy and the Postnatal Period in Italy

Abstract

There has been concern about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on women’s mental health during the perinatal period. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based study aimed at evaluating the psychological impact (BSI-18) of the COVID-19 pandemic on this population and collecting information on the perinatal experiences (COPE-IS) during the second Italian wave. Overall, 1168 pregnant women, and 940 within the first six months after childbirth, were recruited in selected Italian Family Care Centers from October 2020 to May 2021. The prevalence of psychological distress symptoms during pregnancy was 12.1% and 9.3% in the postnatal group. Financial difficulties, a previous mood or anxiety disorder and lack of perceived social support and of support provided by health professionals were associated to psychological distress symptoms in both groups. A third of the women felt unsupported by their social network; 61.7% of the pregnant women experienced changes in antenatal care; 21.2% of those in the postnatal period gave birth alone; more than 80% of the participants identified access to medical and mental health care and self-help as important resources in the present context. Health services should assure enhanced support to the most vulnerable women who face the perinatal period during the pandemic.

The influence of lifestyles to cope with stress over mental health in pregnant and postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…As the COPE-IS was developed in response to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, psychometric information is not yet available (Thomason et al, 2022). However, it has been used in previous studies (Kinser et al, 2021;Lega et al, 2022;Saleh et al, 2022). The main question asked to the participants was What are you doing to cope with your stress related to the COVID-19 outbreak?…”

COVID-19 and Perinatal Stress Experience – a Study Conducted as Part of the COVGEN Initiative

“…Accordingly, we asked to what extent stress levels were increased by the COVID-19 pandemic, although it cannot be ruled out that other factors contributed to a subjectively increased sense of stress during that period of time. We used a questionnaire from the international COVGEN initiative that remains to be validated 29 37 . A reference value for the perception of stress is therefore not available.…”

“…Entsprechend wurde erfragt, inwiefern das Stresslevel durch die COVID-19-Pandemie erhöht ist, wobei nicht ausgeschlossen werden kann, dass andere Faktoren zu einem subjektiv erhöhtem Stressempfinden beigetragen haben. Es wurde ein Fragebogen der internationalen COVGEN-Initiative verwendet, welcher bisher noch nicht validiert werden konnte 29 37 . Ein Referenzwert für das Stressempfinden steht daher nicht zur Verfügung.…”

“I had so many life-changing decisions I had to make without support”: a qualitative analysis of women’s pregnant and postpartum experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…We utilized the Coronavirus Perinatal Experiences Impact Survey (COPE-IS), a 90-item, mixed-method open-source survey designed by experts in maternal health to collect data on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on perinatal experiences [23]. The COPE-IS survey has been broadly employed throughout localities in the United States and Europe for future cross-sectional data analysis [24][25][26], but has not been psychometrically tested because of the novelty of the pandemic. Respondents are asked to answer single-answer, multiple-choice, and Likert Scale questions regarding pregnancy and postpartum concerns, feelings of support, and challenges due to the pandemic.…”