Study: Coronavirus increases depression and anxiety among pregnant women
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 07-12-2020
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As a part of a new study published in Psychiatry Review, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital surveyed pregnant women and those who recently gave birth concluding that Covid-19 has been contributing to depression, generalised anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Titled as, 'Perinatal Experiences and Covid-19 Effects Study (PEACE)', the study aimed at understanding mental health well-being of pregnant and postpartum individuals in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic. As per ANI reports, a total of 1,123 women were surveyed between May 21 and August 17, 2020 and it was found out that more than 1-in-3 (36.4 percent) reported clinically significant levels of depression.
Corresponding author Cindy Liu, PhD, of the Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry said, "We know the perinatal period is already a time in which women are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns. We primarily wanted to see what factors related to the pandemic might be associated with mental health symptoms." The participants of the study were recruited through word-of-mouth, using posts on email lists and in social media groups.