Psychological status of pregnant women during COVID-۱۹ Outbreak: A review article

Background: Mental health problems among women of reproductive age are increasingly being identified as a global burden of women's diseases. In December ۲۰۱۹, a series of pneumonia cases of Sars-Cov-۲ in Wuhan, China, with a highly infectious disease with a long incubation period have been identified that spread quickly in the whole world and leading to a global health emergency. Not long after that, the current outbreak of the COVID-۱۹ which declared as a pandemic in March ۲۰۲۰, inflict serious threats to mental health and individual’s lives. This study aimed to review the Psychological status of pregnant women during COVID-۱۹ Outbreak.Method: The literature searches in the international (Google scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and the ISI) scientific databases by using keywords such as pregnancy, covid۱۹, mental health, and psychological needs were conducted. Ten published articles in English, from ۲۰۲۰ to ۲۰۲۱ were included in this review.Result: This public health emergency in different ways may cause more negative emotions; which can be reflected directly in the psychological and mental health of pregnant women. It caused a wide range of psychological problems, such as fear, panic disorder, anxiety, and depression, among the population of those countries that have heavily affected in general and in pregnant women specifically. Many factors can influence pregnant women's mental health such as fear of getting sick, infections of their infants, or relatives, reduction of social support due to social distance, limiting daily or part-time activities and is required to be at work, fear of declining medical and non-medical facilities, low level of education, financial problems, lack of accurate information and accessibility of misinformation about the covid-۱۹ virus, high prevalence of the disease in the living space, and concerns about poisoning with disinfectant solutions.Conclusion: Given that at this time, little is known on the impact of COVID-۱۹ on pregnant women mental health and their psychological needs, therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the mental health of pregnant women during a pandemic so it is recommended more studies with a quantitative and qualitative approach must be conducted to explore the psychological needs of pregnant women in any infectious pandemic.

کلیدواژه ها:

mental health ، pregnancy ، psychological needs ، covid۱۹