How Maternal and Perinatal Health Were Affected by COVID-19 Pandemic ?
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a significant impact on most people’s lives and on the healthcare system. Collateral harm to public health has been severe, with particular concerns for the perinatal population due to these public health disturbances.
When it comes to Maternal-Newborn Nursing, the Covid-19 pandemic has a direct and an indirect influence. COVID-19 has both direct and indirect effects on maternal health. For this wide-ranging subject, we did an extensive scoping study. COVID-19 symptomatic pregnant women may have more severe consequences than non-pregnant women suffering from COVID-19.
It is quite improbable that the virus will be transmitted from mother to baby through intrauterine or breastfeeding transmission, or even during birth. COVID-19-positive individuals have unique labor, delivery, and nursing challenges because of the wide range of recommendations. So, what’s the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on maternal and perinatal health?
Intrauterine transmission
Research on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mother to fetus is highly speculative, and more data is needed before it can be confirmed. Currently, there is no evidence that vertical transmission of COVID-19 during the third trimester causes intrauterine infection in pregnant women with clinically or microbiologically identified cases of the virus.
Delivery and labor
A small number of case studies, including one with 108 deliveries in New York City, demonstrate that vaginal delivery does not carry a higher risk of infection for the newborn. Clinical guidelines disagree in their advice on delivery mode despite early comforting data that vaginal birth does not enhance the neonate’s infection risk. According to various estimates, women infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus are more likely to have a C-section.
Breastfeeding and infant contact
Breast milk may or may not transmit new coronavirus, although this has yet to be determined. SARS-CoV-2 was found in the breast milk of postpartum women who had tested positive for the coronavirus while pregnant, as reported in case reports and case series. SARS-CoV-2 was found in milk samples from 37 women; however, the majority was negative. Preliminary research suggests that breast milk is unlikely to be a transmission route for SARS-CoV-2.
Mental health
The mental health of pregnant women and new moms is higher than that of non-pregnant adults. Anxiety and depression in the postpartum and intrapartum periods were studied in India, China, and Italy concerning the COVID-19 by self-reports and clinical evaluations. Additionally, there is still a lack of research on maternal mental health problems such as drug abuse and aggressive violence.
The pandemic had a profound effect on the mental health of mothers. The worry of vertical transmission of the virus to their children, the scarcity of prenatal care services, and the absence of social support was linked to anxiety and sadness among pregnant women and new mothers who did not have COVID. Pregnant women and new moms were more likely to have psychological issues due to the pandemic’s social isolation and quarantine measures.
Pregnant women reported more excellent rates of clinically significant anxiety and depression symptoms than non-pregnant women in cross-sectional research conducted in China during the pandemic period.
Care throughout pregnancy and after delivery
Many non-essential health treatments had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize transmission inside clinics, resulting in considerable decreases in the amount of prenatal and postnatal care obtained.
A poll of 4451 pregnant women in the United States revealed that almost a third reported heightened stress levels, with adjustments to prenatal checkups noted as a primary factor. Indirect consequences of the pandemic in 118 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been predicted to reduce prenatal and postnatal care by at least 18 percent and probably as much as 51.9%, respectively.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, maternal and perinatal healthcare services have been interrupted, and stress levels among healthcare professionals have risen. During the COVID-19 pandemic, global maternal and fetal outcomes deteriorated, increasing maternal mortality, stillbirths, ruptured ectopic pregnancies, and maternal depression. The results demonstrate a significant gap between high- and low-resource situations in several cases. The strategic response to this pandemic and future health crises must include safe, accessible and equitable maternity care.