Title: The psychological effect of coronavirus during pregnancy and its outcome in Bangladesh

Authors: Lt Col Md Fakhrul Alam, Dr Musammat Shamima Akter, Dr Israt Jahan

 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v10i3.06

Abstract

Background: Maintaining a mental health to be healthy is a great challenge now a days. Due to pandemic situation people especially cases like pregnant women suffers severe mental issues.

Objective: The primary objective of this investigation is to assess the psychological effect of corona during pregnancy and its outcome in Bangladesh.

Method: This cross-sectional study was done among a total of 150 pregnant participants who visited their checkup at tertiary medical college and hospital. GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7) and ISI (Insomnia Severity Index) were utilized to measure sadness, GAD, and insomnia prior to the COVID-19 epidemic as well as during it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to measure psychological stress.

Results: During the research,, 62.5 percent of the patients were between the ages of 32 and 42. 41.7 percent had recently graduated, 38.9 percent were military members, 70 percent were married between the ages of 18 and 25, and 98 percent had no history of mental illness. Pregnant women reported considerably greater rates of depression (31 vs. 20%), generalized anxiety (20 vs. 15%), and sleeplessness (38 vs. 25%) during the pandemic of COVID-19 than prior to the onset. When compared to the first and second trimesters, the third trimester Insomnia was more common (adjusted Ps 0.01), and pregnant women had considerably more psychological stress in the third trimester than in the first and second trimesters (adjusted Ps 0.01). Besides that, due to mental illness adverse outcome such as 25% cases preeclampsia followed by preterm birth seen 21% cases and Gestational diabetes seen 11% cases documented.

Conclusion: To summarize, our findings imply that the epidemic of COVID-19 had a detrimental emotional impact affecting expecting mothers, in specific those in their those in their first and third trimesters, as well as those whose  mental psychological difficulties prior to the pandemic. Timely detection and treatment of melancholy disorders in expectant mothers, especially in the midst of a pandemic, is critical for the wellbeing of the mother and fetuses cognitive and emotional health. Professional emotional well-being treatment should be provided to this specific demographic as soon as possible.

Keyword: mental health, COVID-19, pregnant women.

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Corresponding Author

Lt Col Md Fakhrul Alam

Commanding Officer, 11 Field Ambulance, Savar Cantonment, Bangladesh