ArticleWomen and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives2022
Being in the shadow of the unknown - Swedish women's lived experiences of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic, a phenomenological study.
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 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Women's experiences of maternity care in high-income countries during the pandemic health system shock: a follow-up systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Parental experiences with changes in maternity care during the Covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-studies systematic review.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2023Pooled it
- Partners' childbirth experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic - findings from the Swedish COPE prospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Observational
- Article
- Patterns of healthcare contacts for decreased fetal movements in Sweden before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: a retrospective population-based cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Everything feels just a little heavier, more wrought with implications, you know? - a mixed-methods study examining lifestyle behaviors, health, and well-being of pregnant and postpartum women during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Article
- Trends in the quality of maternal and neonatal care in Sweden and Norway as compared to 12 WHO European countries: A cross-sectional survey investigating maternal perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Observational
- The gap between the need for parental support and support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study with first-time mothers' experiences.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Pregnant and postpartum women's experiences of the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in high-income countries: a qualitative evidence synthesis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- The psychosocial experiences of pregnant women in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective qualitative study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Set aside-A qualitative study of partners' experiences of pregnancy, labour, and postnatal care in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Quality of maternal and newborn care in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study based on WHO quality standards.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2022Article
- In the need of a digital cicerone in healthcare? - Guidance for parents.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- Large gaps in the quality of healthcare experienced by Swedish mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study based on WHO standards.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2022Article
- Article
- Response to the letter to the editor in response to "Women's experiences with being pregnant and becoming a new mother during the COVID-19 pandemic".Sexual & reproductive healthcare : official journal of the Swedish Association of Midwives · 2022Article
- Clinical-pathological features in placentas of pregnancies with SARS-CoV-2 infection and adverse outcome: case series with and without congenital transmission.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2022Observational
- COVID-19 Special Issue - The Impact of COVID-19 on women, babies, midwives, and midwifery care.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the emotional well-being of expecting mothers. Sweden's unique strategy for managing COVID-19 involved no national lockdown. Emphasis was instead placed on limiting crowding and asking citizens to practice social distancing measures.
aimTo gain a deeper understanding of how women not infected by SARS-CoV-2 experienced pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.
methodsThis was a qualitative study with a reflective lifeworld approach. Fourteen women that had not contracted COVID-19 and who were pregnant during the first and second wave of the pandemic were interviewed. Data were analysed with a phenomenological reflective lifeworld approach.
findingsThe essence of the women's experiences of being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic was best described as being in the shadow of the unknown, where the COVID-19 pandemic could at times totally overshadow the experience of being pregnant, while at other times, rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds. The experience was characterised by having to deal with the uncertainties caused by the pandemic and feelings of being in an information echo. Women felt socially isolated and had to face maternal check-ups without the support of their partners. There was, however, a strong trust in maternal health-care services despite the lack of information available.
conclusionBeing in the shadow of the unknown represents the uncertainties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience of pregnancy. Sufficient information, a companion of choice and screening for emotional well-being are important factors in maternity care during pandemics.
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