Understanding Mental Health Concerns Among Pregnant People and Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Full Description: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the mental health of pregnant and postpartum people. This coupled with COVID-19 protocols such as the stay-at-home orders, shifts to virtual prenatal care, and lack of support persons during birthing has further exacerbated mental health concerns for this population. In a worldwide survey, pregnant and postpartum people reported high levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and post-traumatic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers at Harvard. Such high levels of distress may have potential implications for the birthing person and for fetal and child health and development. NACCHO, in partnership with the What to Expect Project (WTE) and through funding from CDC, developed a multi-media needs assessment for WTE consumers to assess the impact of COVID-19 on mental health among pregnant and postpartum people. The results from this needs assessment will help inform future technical assistance and resource development for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) local health department (LHD) staff and healthcare providers. The needs assessment was disseminated to WTE consumers through the WTE mobile application and website between 8/17 - 8/24/21. Eligibility requirements include self-identifying as a pregnant or postpartum person residing in the US. A total of 1,721 people from a wide geographic distribution in the US completed the needs assessment, which included validated mental health risk screening tools PHQ-9 and GAD-7. We continue to analyze this data and anticipate its completion by the time of this poster publication. Preliminary needs assessment results show pregnant and postpartum people had more depressive (58%) or anxiety (67%) symptoms during the pandemic. Respondents indicated feeling more depressed or anxious due to fear of contracting COVID-19 as a pregnant person and/or concerns about the health of their children and family. Despite the indication of depression and anxiety in this sample, about half of the sample (54%) did not seek mental health treatment during the pandemic for various reasons including stigma, difficultly accessing treatment, and/or financial capacity. Of those that sought mental health treatment, 66% of them sought therapy specifically, opposed to medications and nontraditional mental health treatment methods. Additionally, more than half (56%) of the sample indicated a desire for more mental health support from health care providers during the pandemic such as mental health referrals. LHDs and healthcare providers play an important role in supporting pregnant and postpartum people during the pandemic. It is critical to continue to strengthen efforts to partner with communities to encourage and refer to mental health services for pregnant and postpartum individuals and children. These findings are pivotal in informing strategies that ensure that the mental health care needs of pregnant and postpartum people are prioritized during public health emergencies.

Abbreviated Description: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the mental health of pregnant and postpartum people. This coupled with COVID-19 protocols such as the stay-at-home orders, shifts to virtual prenatal care, and lack of support persons during birthing has further exacerbated mental health concerns for this population. NACCHO, in partnership with the What to Expect Project and through funding from CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, developed a multi-media needs assessment for WTE consumers to assess the impact of COVID-19 on mental health among pregnant and postpartum people. This poster session will highlight the results from the needs assessment and recommendations on ways to ensure that the mental health needs of pregnant and postpartum people are prioritized during public health emergencies.