Startseite Giving birth alone due to COVID-19-related hospital restrictions compared to accompanied birth: psychological distress in women with caesarean section or vaginal birth – a cross-sectional study
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Giving birth alone due to COVID-19-related hospital restrictions compared to accompanied birth: psychological distress in women with caesarean section or vaginal birth – a cross-sectional study

  • Silvia Oddo-Sommerfeld EMAIL logo , Karin Schermelleh-Engel , Marie Konopka , Valentina Lucia La Rosa ORCID logo , Frank Louwen und Sarah Sommerlad
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 1. April 2022
Journal of Perinatal Medicine
Aus der Zeitschrift Journal of Perinatal Medicine Band 50 Heft 5

Abstract

Objectives

We examined the mental health of mothers after unaccompanied birth (unaccompanied group, UG) due to COVID-19-related visiting bans and compared the data with a control group with accompanied birth (AG). Additionally, a distinction was made between caesarean section (CS) and vaginal birth (VB), as existing research indicates a higher risk for mental distress after CS.

Methods

The cross-sectional study included 27 mothers in the UG and 27 matched controls (AG). Anxiety, depression, postpartum traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and psychological well-being were assessed. Additionally, emotions and attitudes related to the restrictions were measured by self-developed items.

Results

Psychological distress was high especially in the UG (anxiety: 23%, PTSS: 34.6%, low well-being: 42.3%, depression: 11.5%). Mothers in the AG had lower psychological distress than those in the UG, but still had enhanced rates of PTSS (11.1%) and diminished well-being (22.2%). In both groups, women with CS reported higher anxiety and trauma scores and lower well-being than women with VB. Unaccompanied mothers with CS perceived visitation restrictions as less appropriate and felt more helpless, angry, worried, and frustrated about the partner’s absence than women with VB.

Conclusions

The partner’s absence during, but also after childbirth has a major impact on psychological outcomes. Particularly, higher rates of anxiety and PTSS can lead to negative consequences for mothers and their children. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to relax visitation bans and avoid unaccompanied births. Psychological treatment in obstetric units is more urgently needed than ever, especially for women with a caesarean section.

Keywords: COVID-19; delivery modes; postpartum anxiety; postpartum depression; postpartum traumatic stress; unaccompanied birth; visiting bans
Corresponding author: Silvia Oddo-Sommerfeld, Ph.D., Divison of Obstetrics and Fetomaternal Medicine, University Hospital of Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai, 7, Frankfurt, 60590, Germany, Phone: +49 069-6301-84219, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Nana-Rosa Wonner and Annalena Köhnlein for their support in data collection and data entry.

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contribution: Conceptualization: FL. Study concept, planning and quality control: SOS, SS, and KSE. Data collection: SS, and MK. Statistical concepts and analysis: KSE, MK, VLLR, and SS. Drafting of the manuscript: SS, SOS, KSE, MK, and VLLR. Critically revision of the manuscript: FL, and VLLR. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: Research involving human subjects complied with all relevant national regulations, institutional policies and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration (as revised in 2013) and has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board (#20–786).

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Received: 2021-07-27
Revised: 2022-02-01
Accepted: 2022-02-07
Published Online: 2022-04-01
Published in Print: 2022-06-27

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Venous thrombosis risk factors in pregnant women
  4. Ethical considerations of maternal-fetal surgery
  5. Opinion Paper
  6. John Stuart Mill is relevant to COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy today
  7. Corner of Academy
  8. Excellent perinatal outcome of monoamniotic twin pregnancy with timely diagnosis and optimal management – a retrospective cohort study
  9. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  10. Giving birth alone due to COVID-19-related hospital restrictions compared to accompanied birth: psychological distress in women with caesarean section or vaginal birth – a cross-sectional study
  11. COVID-19 and its effect on Instagram adoption by #OBGYN residency programs
  12. The role of the placenta in spontaneous preterm labor and delivery with intact membranes
  13. New ultrasonographic midtrimester scoring method for predicting spontaneous preterm birth in uncomplicated asymptomatic twin pregnancies
  14. Antenatal corticosteroids and neonatal outcomes in preterm birth in the United States
  15. Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcomes among women with psoriatic arthritis, a population based study
  16. Maternal and neonatal outcomes among pregnant women with inflammatory myopathies
  17. Outcomes of pregnancies at high-risk for placenta accreta spectrum following negative diagnostic imaging
  18. Risk factors for postpartum hemorrhage in patients with retained placenta: building a predict model
  19. Prediction of insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
  20. Timing of delivery in antenatal fetal hydronephrosis: a snap shot social media survery of obstetric and fetal medicine practice
  21. Original Article – Neonates
  22. Is low cerebral near infrared spectroscopy oximetry associated with neurodevelopment of preterm infants without brain injury?
  23. Short Communication
  24. Postpartum depression, mode of delivery, and indication for unscheduled cesarean delivery: a retrospective cohort study
  25. Letters to the Editor
  26. Peripartum cephalocenthesis in a large fetal hydranencephaly
  27. John Stuart Mill and COVID-19 vaccination
  28. Letter reply “John Stuart Mill and COVID-19 vaccination”
https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2021-0368
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
COVID-19; delivery modes; postpartum anxiety; postpartum depression; postpartum traumatic stress; unaccompanied birth; visiting bans

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Venous thrombosis risk factors in pregnant women
  4. Ethical considerations of maternal-fetal surgery
  5. Opinion Paper
  6. John Stuart Mill is relevant to COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy today
  7. Corner of Academy
  8. Excellent perinatal outcome of monoamniotic twin pregnancy with timely diagnosis and optimal management – a retrospective cohort study
  9. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  10. Giving birth alone due to COVID-19-related hospital restrictions compared to accompanied birth: psychological distress in women with caesarean section or vaginal birth – a cross-sectional study
  11. COVID-19 and its effect on Instagram adoption by #OBGYN residency programs
  12. The role of the placenta in spontaneous preterm labor and delivery with intact membranes
  13. New ultrasonographic midtrimester scoring method for predicting spontaneous preterm birth in uncomplicated asymptomatic twin pregnancies
  14. Antenatal corticosteroids and neonatal outcomes in preterm birth in the United States
  15. Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcomes among women with psoriatic arthritis, a population based study
  16. Maternal and neonatal outcomes among pregnant women with inflammatory myopathies
  17. Outcomes of pregnancies at high-risk for placenta accreta spectrum following negative diagnostic imaging
  18. Risk factors for postpartum hemorrhage in patients with retained placenta: building a predict model
  19. Prediction of insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
  20. Timing of delivery in antenatal fetal hydronephrosis: a snap shot social media survery of obstetric and fetal medicine practice
  21. Original Article – Neonates
  22. Is low cerebral near infrared spectroscopy oximetry associated with neurodevelopment of preterm infants without brain injury?
  23. Short Communication
  24. Postpartum depression, mode of delivery, and indication for unscheduled cesarean delivery: a retrospective cohort study
  25. Letters to the Editor
  26. Peripartum cephalocenthesis in a large fetal hydranencephaly
  27. John Stuart Mill and COVID-19 vaccination
  28. Letter reply “John Stuart Mill and COVID-19 vaccination”
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