COVID-19 has increased weight levels in US pregnant women

COVID-19 has created new problems for pregnant women in the United States, an organization that was already facing the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world even before the pandemic.

One of their biggest concerns is that their child will develop the disease, according to a study from Washington State University recently published in the journal BMC pregnancy and childbirth. Some women said they were scared if they went to the hospital to get the virus and had to separate from the new baby.

Pregnant women are under great pressure to contract COVID-19. They have a lot of questions for their healthcare providers. There’s a lot we don’t know yet, which is understandable, but it’s especially heavy on the moms. “

Celestina Barbosa-Leiker, Lead Author and Vice-Chancellor for Research, Spokane Health Sciences WSU

The researchers also found that the pandemic increased the financial worries of pregnant women, making it difficult to get healthy food and causing them to miss prenatal appointments. The study revealed even greater levels of responsibility and lack of social support among pregnant women with low-income and low-income pregnancies, reflecting an increase in pre-existing health differences. before the epidemic.

“We know that prenatal stress affects fetal development, so these are major concerns,” Barbosa-Leiker said.

For the study, the WSU research team analyzed survey responses from more than 160 pregnant and post-partum women from April 28 to June 30, 2020. They collected both quantitative survey responses from the entire group and more in-depth qualitative responses from -set subgroup of women.

In the study, 52% of pregnant women and 49% of postpartum women were worried about their babies contracting with COVID-19, and 46% had sought additional information about COVID-19 protocols from the hospital where they intended to deliver, or had delivered, the baby.

In the qualitative portion of the study, women expressed many major concerns. For example, a participant noted that their primary concern during the pandemic is COVID-19 contracture and mortality.

Others were concerned about catching the virus in hospital when they delivered and that COVID-19 policies would force them to separate from their new baby or keep their partners out of the hospital. -birth room. Barbosa-Leiker said hospitals had different policies especially at the beginning of the stay-at-home stages although the proposal is now to keep babies and mothers together.

During the study period, 27% of pregnant women reported not being able to have a healthy diet and 25% missed prenatal meetings. Finance also emerged as an important issue: 19% said their income had been reduced; 9% were laid off and a further 10% said someone in their household had lost their job.

Within the survey sample, pregnant women appeared to be more stressed than post-partum women who had already delivered, as they were less likely to engage in healthy behaviors. in terms of dealing with stress, such as exercise, taking a break from the news and making time to relax.

U.S. pregnant women are already more stressed than many of their peers in industrialized countries. According to a report from nine maternal mortality review committees, they have the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and social and environmental pressures increase the risk of U.S. women dying within the first year of the year. pregnancy.

Previous studies have also shown that US pregnant women have higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to Dutch women, and higher levels of psychological stress than British women – and this was before COVID-19 .

The results of a recent WSU study confirm the need for more resources and support for pregnant women, especially during the pandemic, Barbosa-Leiker said.

“Healthcare providers should continue to talk to moms about their weight because their mental health and emotional well-being are crucial at this time,” she said. “Providers can keep resources on hand. For example, if they learn there is a job loss in the family, they could quickly send them to circulation services.”

Others can provide more support but in a way that is physically lengthy, Barbosa-Leiker said, as pregnant women and new mothers were committing many offenses for keeping relatives, especially grandparents, away from the newborn.

“We heard a lot from our partners that they were under pressure because they were afraid of offending family members,” she said. “Keeping in mind that new parents are doing what they can to To keep the child safe and healthy, we should try to support the aspirations of parents in how they want to deal with visitors during the pandemic. “