Mom in crown: Pregnancy and birth in a pandemic
Sense of uncertainty around COVID-19, difficulties in getting antenatal tests, and numerous changes in prenatal care – these are just some of the reasons that may cause additional stress in pregnant women during the pandemic. Scientists from the PAS Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy and the Jagiellonian University decided to check how mother’s mental state can influence her baby.
Polish Academy of Sciences: Why stress during pregnancy can be dangerous?
Assoc. Prof. Anna Ziomkiewicz-Wichary from the Department of Anthropology at the PAS Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy: There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic causes stress among pregnant women. This is unfavorable situation both for women and her child, as stress may affect their physiology. Strong stress in pregnancy can result in premature delivery, low birth weight of newborns, and delayed motor and cognitive development in childhood. In adult life, on the other hand, the risk of certain diseases increases, e.g. obesity or diabetes.
How do we measure stress in pregnant women?
We already know from previous studies how exposure to military stress as well as ecological disasters during pregnancy may influence the baby. For example, children from the Sichuan province southwest China, who were born after the 2008 earthquake, observed a slowdown in cognitive development. It is a challenging task to run this type of research as it is difficult to separate the effects of psychological and biological stimuli, such as malnutrition or increased physical exertion. Measuring stress during COVID-19 pandemic is less complicated. Current situation allows us to control the variables because we are not facing food shortages and there are no significant changes in physical activity. This allows us to take a closer look at the effects of stress on pregnancy, delivery and the health of the newborn.
What is the scope of your study?
We carry out surveys among pregnant women and those who have just gave birth in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. It would be very interesting to extend the study to other countries, but it introduces new variables, such as access and quality of medical services, or differences in restrictions on social distancing. We hope to collect at least 500 survey responses from all over Poland.
How will the results be used?
The study is carried out with pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy. Our survey results will be later on compared with the course of delivery, birth parameters and baby's health. Therefore, we estimate that we start analyzing data in about half a year. We hope that our research findings may be translated into practice, for instance, different relaxation techniques for future moms to reduce stress.
Pregnant in a pandemic? If you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, feel invited to take part in the “Mama w koronie” [Mom in crown] research study. The online survey (available only in Polish) is anonymous and it takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
Source of information: Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences
