ArticleWomen and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives2022
Prenatal stress, health, and health behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international survey.
Article in Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between prenatal maternal anxiety and/or stress and offspring's cognitive functioning: A meta-analysis.Child development · 2023Pooled it
- The prevalence of mental ill-health in women during pregnancy and after childbirth during the Covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Pooled it
- Adherence to infection prevention measures and vaccine uptake among pregnant women and new mothers in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Fetal programming of infant temperament: An examination of prenatal maternal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.Infant mental health journal · 2026Article
- Pregnant Women's Experiences of Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The impact of perinatal maternal stress on the maternal and infant gut and human milk microbiomes: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- When pregnancy and pandemic coincide: changes in stress and anxiety over the course of pregnancy.Journal of reproductive and infant psychology · 2024Article
- Perinatal Outcomes during versus Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Role of Maternal Depression and Perceived Stress: A Report from the ECHO Program.American journal of perinatology · 2024Article
- Maternal-prenatal stress and depression predict infant temperament during the COVID-19 pandemic.Development and psychopathology · 2024Article
- Prenatal maternal mental health and resilience in the United Kingdom during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a cross- national comparison.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- The impact of perinatal maternal stress on the maternal and infant gut and human milk microbiomes: A scoping review protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
- Life satisfaction of Palestinian and Polish students after pandemic COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The Relationship between Socio-Demographic Factors, Preventive Health Behaviors and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine among Israeli Pregnant Women during the Coronavirus Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Factors related to COVID-19 vaccination intention and uptake among childbearing women.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2023Article
- Evaluation of the association between fear of COVID-19 and pregnancy distress.African health sciences · 2023Article
- Navigating uncertainty alone: A grounded theory analysis of women's psycho-social experiences of pregnancy and childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic in London.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2023Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Level of Physical Activity, Emotional State, and Health Habits of Women in Late Pregnancy and Early Puerperium.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- What happened to parents' views of school success for autistic children during the COVID-19 pandemic?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Can Universal Cash Transfer Save Newborns' Birth Weight During the Pandemic?Population research and policy review · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPregnant women's stress, mental and physical health, and health behaviours can have important implications for maternal and child health outcomes.
aimTo examine pregnant women's levels of stress, mental and physical health, and health behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted online, with recruitment and data collection occurring between 16/6/20 and 17/7/20. Participants were pregnant women recruited via online pregnancy/parenting communities. Participants self-reported their levels of general stress, pregnancy-specific stress and COVID-19 related stress, mental and physical health, general health behaviours, and COVID-19 related health behaviours.
findings573 pregnant women participated in the survey. Participants were most commonly resident in the United States (42.6%, n=243), Ireland (41.2%, n=235) or the United Kingdom (10%, n=57). The majority (80.0%, n=457) were married and educated to degree level or above (79.3, n=453). Pregnant women reported high levels of pregnancy-specific and COVID-19-related stress, and low levels of mental and physical health, during the pandemic. Encouragingly, pregnant women in this study generally reported high levels of adherence to public health advice and pregnancy health behaviours. Stress and general mental health outcomes were best predicted by well-being factors (including stress and social support). Health impairing behaviours (e.g. poor diet) were predicted by both well-being and demographic factors. DISCUSSION: Interventions targeting pregnancy- and pandemic-specific stress at the population level will be essential to support mental health and minimise adverse outcomes for women and children during the pandemic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.