NDLI: COVID-19 and anxiety in pregnancy and postpartum: a longitudinal survey

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Ayers, Susan Meades, Rose Sinesi, Andrea Cheyne, Helen Maxwell, Margaret Best, Catherine McNicol, Stacey Alderdice, Fiona Jomeen, Julie Shakespeare, Judy
Abstract	Background Anxiety is estimated to affect between 15 and 20 per cent of women during pregnancy and postpartum. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in wide-ranging changes to how people lived, worked and socialised around the world. COVID and pandemic-related restrictions to maternity services may have exacerbated anxiety during pregnancy and the postnatal period. This study aimed to determine: (1) levels of COVID exposure and perceived risk; (2) adherence to Government guidelines and restrictions; and (3) the impact of COVID and COVID-related restrictions on perinatal anxiety and mental health in the UK. Methods A longitudinal survey (n = 2122) of COVID and anxiety in women during early pregnancy, mid-pregnancy, late pregnancy and postpartum. Results 38.41% of participants had COVID before or during the study. Perinatal anxiety was predicted by participants having poor general health, being of Asian or mixed ethnicity, having previous mental health problems, believing that COVID would make them severely ill, and reporting that COVID had impacted on their mental health. Over time, more women were infected with COVID, and the perceived severity of COVID decreased. Experiencing mild COVID was associated with decreased anxiety at the subsequent time point (mean difference -0.72, 95% CI -1.38 to -0.07, p = 0.030). Very few participants in this sample had severe COVID (2.9%) or reported it having a severe impact on their mental health (5.66%). Most participants (75.3%) said the pandemic had ‘no’ or a ‘slight’ impact on their mental health. Pandemic-related restrictions to maternity care affected more women, with around 40% reporting anxiety about being separated from baby, their partner not being with them in labor, or having to leave shortly after the birth. Level of adherence to guidelines was variable, depending on the restriction. Conclusions Findings suggest pandemic-related restrictions caused anxiety for more women than COVID per se. Adherence to guidelines was variable yet the prevalence of COVID infections was low compared to the general population. Findings can be used to inform policy and practice for future pandemics and health-related crises.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-025-22257-7.pdf
Ending Page	12
Page Count	12
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-025-22257-7
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	25
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2025-03-26
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health COVID-19 Pandemic Anxiety Pregnancy Postpartum Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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