What drives anxiety, depression in pregnant women during COVID-19?

Unemployment, difficulties regarding household finances, and a perceived decrease in general support lead to greater anxiety and depression burden in pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, reports a recent meta-analysis.

Drawing from the databases of CNKI, Embase, and PubMed, researchers conducted pooled analyses of 17 studies including a total of 15,050 pregnant women. Those who perceived a general decrease in general support were 10 percent more likely to have anxiety than controls (odds ratio [OR], 1.10, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.17).

Similarly, concerns regarding the family’s annual income (OR, 1.32, 95 percent CI, 1.20–1.46) and smoking during pregnancy (OR, 3.00, 95 percent CI, 1.77–5.09) also emerged as significant risk factors for anxiety.

The same patterns were found for depression, with a perceived decrease in general support (OR, 1.06, 95 percent CI, 1.03–1.10), worries about family finances (OR, 1.76, 95 percent CI, 1.24–2.50), and smoking during pregnancy (OR, 2.91, 95 percent CI, 2.04–4.16) aggravating the likelihood of such outcome.

Additionally, education level (OR, 1.41, 95 percent CI, 1.10–1.81), working status during pregnancy (OR, 1.68, 95 percent CI, 1.25–2.25), the presence of chronic illnesses (OR, 2.10, 95 percent CI, 1.13–3.90), and disobeying isolation protocols (OR, 1.05, 95 percent CI, 1.05–1.05) were also found to be indicators of depression in pregnant women.

“The prevalence of anxiety and depression in pregnant women has significantly increased after the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world, and that may substantially pose adverse effect on the offspring,” the researchers said.

“Our meta-analysis revealed some risk factors for mental health in pregnant women, and [suggested] that mental health interventions in pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic may involve targeted methods individually,” they added.