Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the postpartum experience of women living in Eastern Canada: A mixed method cohort study

  1. Justine Dol
  2. Brianna Richardson
  3. Megan Aston
  4. Douglas Mcmillan
  5. Gail Tomblin murphy
  6. Marsha Campbell-yeo

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Abstract

Objectives

To (1) compare changes in self-efficacy, social support, postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression in Canadian women collected before (Cohort 1) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Cohort 2); (2) explore the women felt related to having a newborn during the pandemic; and (3) explore ways that women coped.

Methods

Prior to the pandemic (October 1, 2019-January 1, 2020), an online survey was conducted with women had given birth within the past six months in one of the three Eastern Canadian Maritime provinces (Cohort 1). A second, similar survey was conducted between August 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 (Cohort 2) during a period of provincial pandemic response to COVID-19.

Results

For Cohort 1, 561 women completed the survey and 331 women in Cohort 2. Cohorts were similar in terms of age of women, parity, and age of newborn. There were no significant differences for self-efficacy, social support, postpartum anxiety, and depression between the cohorts. Difficulties that women reported as a result of COVID-19 restrictions included lack of support from family and friends, fear of COVID-19 exposure, feeling isolated and uncertain, negative impact on perinatal care experience, and hospital restrictions. Having support from partners and families, in-person/virtual support, as well as self-care and the low prevalence of COVID-19 during the summer of 2020 helped women cope.

Conclusion

While there was no significant difference in pre-pandemic and during pandemic psychosocial outcomes, there were still challenges and negative impacts that women identified. Consideration of vulnerable populations is important when making public health recommendations.

What is already known on this subject?

Previous work has shown the importance of social support in the postpartum transition in developing parenting self-efficacy and decreasing postpartum anxiety and depression. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s mental health, particularly during the perinatal period, has seen an increases in rates of postpartum anxiety and depression.

What this study adds?

This study is able to compare self-efficacy, social support, postpartum anxiety and depression between two cohorts of postpartum women living in Eastern Canada – pre-COVID-19 pandemic and during. While there was no significant difference in pre-pandemic and during pandemic psychosocial outcomes, there were still challenges and negative impacts that women identified.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.01.30.21250555: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Ethical approval was granted by the IWK Health Research Ethics Board (#1024525) Participants: Women were considered eligible if they: (1) had an infant six months of age or less; (2) were over 18 years of age; (3) were able to speak, write and read English; and (4) currently live in a Maritime Province.
    Consent: Once participants completed the eligibility screening, they were directed to a consent form.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablePrior to the pandemic (October 1, 2019-January 1, 2020), a survey was conducted with women living in the Maritime provinces (Cohort 1) as part of another research project.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.01.30.21250555v1 on medRxiv