Changes in social support of pregnant and postnatal mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pre-pandemic social support was reported after the pandemic started, so recall bias may affect the before and during comparison. The survey questions were created and distributed within 3 weeks without external pilot testing, so participants may have understood them differently. The study was self-report and observational, so some results may be influenced by factors other than the pandemic. The sample was recruited at two U.S. sites and was generally older, white, and of higher socioeconomic status, so it may not apply to younger, underrepresented, or lower-income mothers. There was no control group of non-pregnant or postpartum individuals, so the findings cannot be separated from general population effects. The correlations between social support change and mental health were weak and cross-sectional, so they do not show that reduced support caused worse mental health.

Funded by the USC Center for the Changing Family, NIH grants, and a NYU COVID Catalyst Grant. The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, or submission. The authors declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships.

Do not conclude that video calls or friend support improve mental health. The study tested no intervention, measured self-reported support, and found only weak correlations with depressive symptoms and stress.