Psychological profile and mood disturbance of women who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania.
Melania Elena Pop-Tudose, Dana Maria Popescu-Spineni, Loredana Sabina Cornelia Manolescu and 3 others
PMID 36525894WHAT IT FOUND
Women giving birth in Romania during pandemic restrictions reported anxiety, anger and distress in the two weeks before birth.
Many said pandemic information came from TV or family, not clinicians. This is a survey, not proof of cause.
Key findings
01The women's mood profiles differed significantly from the ideal Iceberg profile for anxiety, depression and vigor, with inverted anxiety and depression and very low vigor.
02In the State of Alert group, 53.3% of women reported anxiety and 56.7% reported anger; in the State of Emergency group, 45.2% reported anxiety and 51.6% reported anger.
03The State of Alert group showed a more altered mood profile than the State of Emergency group, with significant differences for anxiety, anger, vigor, distress and total mood disturbance, but not for depression, fatigue or confusion.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done at one maternity hospital in Romania, so it may not apply to other settings or patient groups. Of 300 women initially included, only 244 valid answers were analysed, so missing responses could change the picture. Women were asked 2 days postpartum to recall feelings from the past two weeks of pregnancy, which may be inaccurate. The study did not collect postpartum mental health status, actual SARS-CoV-2 infection, or birth experience, any of which could influence answers. Some women may have feared that hospital physicians could see their questionnaire responses, which could bias answers about antenatal care. It is a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show that pandemic restrictions caused the mood changes.
Declared interests
No competing interests were declared, and funding was listed as not applicable.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pandemic restrictions caused these mood changes or that maternity screening will improve outcomes. This was a cross-sectional survey of 244 women at one Romanian maternity hospital, and it did not measure postpartum mental health, infection status or any intervention.