Predictors of COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress: Prenatal and Postpartum Experiences in Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health and hospital restrictions directly influenced Canadian perinatal healthcare. This study aimed to evaluate predictors of pandemic-related pregnancy and postpartum stress in Canada. A sample of 398 women with Canadian pandemic pregnancy experiences completed an online cross-sectional survey between September 2021 and February 2022. Demographic factors, perinatal healthcare characteristics, and psychometric measures including Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3) and Brief COPE were analyzed by independent hierarchical generalized linear models (GLM) to identify predictive variables associated with prenatal and postpartum pandemic-related pregnancy stress scales (PREPS). Respondents reported low social support, low-moderate Problem-Focused and Emotion-Focused Coping scores, with low Avoidant Coping. Middle income and canceled prenatal care appointments were associated with prenatal PREPS-Preparedness Stress, with provider satisfaction negatively associated. Avoidant Coping was positively associated with both prenatal and postpartum Preparedness Stress and Infection Stress scores, whereas Problem-Focused Coping was associated with both prenatal and postpartum Positive Appraisal. High COVID-19 rates and region of healthcare were associated with prenatal and postpartum Infection Stress. Our findings that perinatal healthcare characteristics and psychometric measures, rather than demographic characteristics, were greater predictors of pandemic-related stress reflect the broad societal disruptions that shaped Canadian pregnancy experiences in our sample of mostly high income, well-educated, non-racialized women.