ArticlePloS one2024
Experiences of postpartum anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study and demographic analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Understanding care-seeking of pregnant women from underserved groups: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Temporal trends in pregnancy outcomes during a health system shock.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Race-Related Stress as a Driver of Postpartum Depression Among a Sample of Black Mothers.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Psychological distress in the neonatal intensive care unit: a meta-review.Pediatric research · 2024Review
- Preliminary findings on the experiences of care for women who suffered early pregnancy losses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Oscillating autonomy: a grounded theory study of women's experiences of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, labour and birth, and the early postnatal period.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Freedom for some, but not for Mum: the reproductive injustice associated with pandemic 'Freedom Day' for perinatal women in the United Kingdom.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the reconfiguration of perinatal and maternity services, national lockdowns, and social distancing measures which affected the perinatal experiences of new and expectant parents. This study aimed to explore the occurrence of postpartum anxieties in people who gave birth during the pandemic.
methodsAn exploratory concurrent mixed-methods design was chosen to collect and analyse the quantitative and qualitative data of an online survey during the first UK lockdown. The survey included the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale-Research Short Form-for use in global Crises [PSAS-RSF-C] psychometric tool, and open-ended questions in relation to changes in birth plans and feelings about those changes and giving birth in a pandemic. Differences in measured scores were analysed for the participant's ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability using independent Student's t-tests, and for age, the analysis was completed using Pearson's correlation. Qualitative data from open-ended questions were analysed using a template analysis.
resultsA total of 1,754 new and expectant parents completed the survey between 10th and 24th April 2020, and 381 eligible postnatal women completed the psychometric test. We found 52.5% of participants reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of postnatal anxiety-significantly higher than the rates usually reported. Younger women and sexual minority women were more likely to score highly on the PSAS-RSF-C than their older or heterosexual counterparts (p<0.001). Younger participants reported anxieties in the 'infant safety and welfare' category, whilst lesbian, gay, bisexual, and pansexual participants scored highly in the 'psychosocial adjustment to motherhood' category. DISCUSSION: Postpartum anxiety is under-reported, and demographic differences in the rates of postpartum anxiety are under-researched. This research demonstrates for the first time a difference in postpartum anxiety rates amongst sexual minority women.
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