Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal anxiety during pregnancy: A prevalence study

To assess the impact of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the level of anxiety in low-risk pregnant women.

Epidemiological, descriptive, prevalence study. A total of 74 patients who underwent low risk antenatal controls during the state of alarm because of COVID-19, were included. They filled in the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and a specific document about the pandemic. Clinical histories and different variables of clinical interest were reviewed and compiled, respectively.

Mean age was 34.05 years with average amenorrhoea of 28.17 weeks. A total of 77% of the sample presented symptoms and signs compatible with anxiety. Of these, 44.6% and 32.4% presented minor and major anxiety, respectively. Concern over the time of the birth and postpartum and fear of being at greater risk because of possible infection was present in 95.9% and 94.6% of the sample, respectively. A total of 93.2% of the sample was afraid of intrauterine virus transmission; 94.5% admitted fear over the neonatal consequences of infection.

The pregnant women assessed had three times more anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This incidence is independent of most study variables.