A study has found that being pregnant during a pandemic “sucks,” and while this may not be shocking or new information, it can help set up resources to help those moms who are expecting. Pregnancy is already tough enough in a normal 9 months, but to add in a global pandemic, it can be even harder. Limited appointments, not being able to have a support partner at ultrasounds, and being constantly worried about transmitting the virus, are all valid concerns. Official studies and research can hold medical professionals put supports in place to help moms in their journey.

According to Huffington Post, there was a study done that looked at the toll the pandemic took on pregnant women and what their top concerns are during this pandemic. The study was done by St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto and can be read in full here.

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The study was led by Dr. Tali Bogler and her and her team of researchers wanted to look at the toll this pandemic was taking on expectant mothers. They polled 1,500 women in Canada who were pregnant during the pandemic and asked them about COVID-19 related pregnancy issues and what they were worried about.

Some of the top concerns were if they would be allowed to have people in the room with them when they had to deliver if their friends and family would be able to meet the baby, and how much support they would be able to get in the postpartum period. Since this survey was done at the beginning of the pandemic, they were also concerned about the lack of information on COVID-19, pregnancy, and the growing fetus. The researchers did find that there were some differences in women depending on which number of pregnancies they were on.

If the woman was on her first period, there were a lot of concerns around prenatal classes and hospital tours getting canceled due to the virus. Pregnant women who had children at home were concerned about their older children bringing in the virus and giving it to the newborn. The only downfall in the research was that they did not have a similar study pre-pandemic to compare the results to. However, it was enough to show that nearly 70% of pregnant women had fought with some form of distress during the pandemic, with 20% showing symptoms of depression. This points to an obvious need for more support and resources for pregnant women as the pandemic continues.

Sources: Huffington Post, PubMed