City Research Online

Abstract

A considerable number of women giving birth during COVID-19 pandemic reported being concerned about changes to their childbirth plans and experiences due to imposed restrictions. Research prior to the pandemic suggests that women may be more at risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) due to unmet expectations of their childbirth plans. Therefore, this study aimed to examine if the mismatch between women’s planned birth and actual birth experiences during COVID-19 was associated with women’s postpartum PTSS. Women in the postpartum period (up to 6 months after birth) across 11 countries reported on childbirth experiences, mental health, COVID-19-related factors, and PTSS (PTSD checklist DSM-5 version) using self-report questionnaires (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04595123). More than half (64%) of the 3532 postpartum women included in the analysis reported changes to their childbirth plans. All changes were significantly associated with PTSS scores. Participants with one and two changes to their childbirth plans had a 12% and 38% increase, respectively, in PTSS scores compared to those with no changes (Exp(β) = 1.12; 95% CI [1.06–1.19]; p < 0.001 and Exp(β) = 1.38; 95% CI [1.29–1.48]; p < 0.001). In addition, the effect of having one change in the childbirth plan on PTSS scores was stronger in primigravida than in multigravida (Exp(β) = 0.86; 95% CI [0.77–0.97]; p = 0.014). Changes to women’s childbirth plans during the COVID-19 pandemic were common and associated with women’s postpartum PTSS score. Developing health policies that protect women from the negative consequences of unexpected or unintended birth experiences is important for perinatal mental health.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publisher Keywords:	Birth, Childbirth plan, Postpartum, Posttraumatic stress disorder, Mental health
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Midwifery & Radiography
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads