Being in the shadow of the unknown - Swedish women's lived experiences of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic, a phenomenological study.
Karolina Linden, Nimmi Domgren, Mehreen Zaigham and 3 others
PMID 34602340WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant Swedish women described constant worry about catching COVID-19, being alone at scans, and not getting clear guidance.
They wanted maternity care providers to ask directly how the pandemic was affecting them.
Key findings
01Women described major worry about how contracting COVID-19 might affect them and their unborn child, and one woman skipped midwifery appointments and sought psychological help.
02Women reported a general lack of information from maternity care providers, and some had to chase updates or search news and other sources, which caused stress.
03Women trusted maternity care but said midwives should ask more directly about their mental health and how the pandemic affected them.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only women who had not contracted SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy, so it does not describe the experiences of infected women. All participants gave birth to healthy infants, so it does not capture women facing adverse pregnancy or infant outcomes. The sample was small, and most participants were born in Sweden or the European Union, with no young or teenage participants. Women were interviewed after birth, so experiences were recalled rather than reported during pregnancy. Findings come from Sweden, where maternity care was standardized, free, and mostly open, with voluntary social-distancing recommendations and partner restrictions that may differ elsewhere.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by Swedish public grants and regional health-care or academic sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that pregnancy during a pandemic causes clinical anxiety or that maternity care failed. It reports the experiences of a small group of uninfected Swedish women who had healthy infants, recalled after birth.