The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth satisfaction in a prospective cohort of 2,341 U.S. women.
Heidi Preis, Brittain Mahaffey, Cassandra Heiselman and 1 others
PMID 34736888WHAT IT FOUND
Birth satisfaction was lower among women stressed about being unprepared for birth.
Women with no companion averaged below 3 on a 1-5 scale, while more companions and seeing pregnancy positively were linked to higher satisfaction.
Key findings
01In adjusted analysis, pandemic-related unpreparedness stress predicted lower satisfaction, while positive appraisal and more companions predicted higher satisfaction.
02Non-pandemic factors explained 35% of birth satisfaction; pandemic factors added another 3%.
03The 50 women with no companion had birth satisfaction below 3 on the 1-5 scale.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cohort was self-selected through social media and was racially and socioeconomically relatively homogeneous. Attrition was 46%, and women who did not complete follow-up may have differed in stress, support, or birth satisfaction. Complications were self-reported and their accuracy cannot be confirmed. The paper says causes for unmet birth expectations are unknown and recommends further study in other cultural contexts.
Declared interests
Stony Brook University Office of the Vice President for Research and Institute for Engineering-Driven Medicine COVID-19 Seed Grant funded the study and had no role in design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or publication decision. Some authors reported NIH grant support during preparation, and otherwise declared no conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pandemic restrictions alone caused lower birth satisfaction. Non-pandemic factors explained 35% of satisfaction, and pandemic factors added another 3%.