Pregnant women are being one of the most vulnerable groups in these uncertain times of pandemic. The mental health of mothers is very important at such a special time as pregnancy and the birth of a child, and the situation of uncertainty that has been experienced since the start of the Covid pandemic is not the friendliest terrain.
“The current pandemic generated by covid-19 has made future mothers reinforce feelings such as fear (thinking that something could happen to the baby), anxiety (changes in routine) and uncertainty . In addition, the risk of mental health disorders during pregnancy has been increased due, among other things, to the initial lack of evidence on the possible effects of the virus on pregnancy, on the fetus or the possible teratogenic effects of antivirals. .
This concludes one of the many studies that are being carried out on the effects that the pandemic is having on pregnant women, during and after pregnancy. Its authors are nurses specializing in gynecology and obstetrics from the Maternal and Child Hospital of Malaga and the Trinidad Health Center in the same city, professionals who also warn of the relationship between anxiety during pregnancy and fetal alterations , such as hemodynamic disorders, fetal growth and low birth weight.
Financial problems and anxiety
In addition to this study published in the Sanum Scientific-Health Journal, there are other scientific papers that deal with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 on the mental health of future mothers. The Jiménez Díaz Foundation cites the economic problems derived from the loss of work that for some people the successive waves of contagion of the virus have caused. In a sample of 350 women, the reduction in working hours and loss of income are cited as the origin of depressive disorders in pregnant women .
Outside our borders, the University of Alberta in Canada publishes a study that reports a considerable increase in cases of maternal depression: from 15% to 40%, before and during the pandemic . In this survey, in which 900 women participated, an increase in anxiety from 29% to 72% was also detected.
Do not suspend antidepressant medication in pregnancy
They are numbers that draw attention, but they would not do so if one takes into account that pregnancy, apart from Covid-19, is already a time of special vulnerability; The woman faces important physical changes and goes through a stage of emotional preparation before the arrival and care of her baby.
The medical director of EVA Clinics, Isabel Vielsa, points out that hormonal changes are unexpected and different in each patient, so if there is no history of depression or predisposition to suffer from it in women, pregnancy is a surprise in a sense.
It also points to a closer control in the check-ups and monitoring of the patient, who, in no case, should abandon her antidepressant medication if she had it prescribed, but rather adjust it to her new physical condition.
What if I didn’t take it before? Should you start now? It will depend on the persistence of symptoms such as depression, sadness, a feeling of existential emptiness, overprotection of the fetus and/or the newborn, feelings of guilt, overflow, inability to care for the baby, insomnia, loss of appetite and unexpected and constant crying, among others.
In Babies and more | Postpartum depression: what it is and how to recognize it, Postpartum depression is more frequent than you imagine, but it has a solution
