COVID-19 and Anxiety in Perinatal Women

Introduction: With a global pandemic like coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreading across borders, creating an extensive fear amongst all groups alike due to the increased morbidity and mortality, there is uncertainty in all patients affected. The government policy of quarantine of pregnant and postnatal women with COVID-19 in hospitals leads to ironic isolation and loneliness, mounting anxiety and fear of unknown outcomes. This study was undertaken to assess maternal anxiety in relation to COVID-19 and to observe factors influencing anxiety, drawing on anxiety scoring scales and a comparison of the levels of anxiety between antenatal and postnatal mothers.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 123 perinatal women with COVID-19 and their levels of anxiety were assessed on the basis of a pre-formed questionnaire, using the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Questionnaire (GAD-7). The levels of anxiety between antenatal and postnatal mothers were compared based on these 2 scoring systems, using IBM.SPSS statistics software Version23.0.

Results: Although both groups were having high scores of anxiety, antenatal women were found to possess statistically significant higher level of anxiety, compared to postnatal women, as determined by CAS.

Conclusion: Better assessment on antenatal and postnatal women will lead to need-based counselling from healthcare workers during their hospital stay and better use of resources for the identification of the vulnerable group and their management.