Education, Direction, Empowerment, and Nurturing (EDEN) Foundation, Abuja, Nigeria.
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Epidemiol Health. 2021;43:e2021078. doi: 10.4178/epih.e2021078. Epub 2021 Oct 6.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly impacted mental health and well-being around the globe. Public health measures to control the virus's rapid spread, such as physical distancing, social isolation, lockdown, restricted movements, and quarantine, caused fear and panic in the general population. Although pandemic-related stressors have been reported, changes that occur during the perinatal period compounded by those made to obstetric care guidelines may put pregnant and postpartum mothers at an increased risk of poor mental health. While an abundance of research has examined the impact of the pandemic on maternal mental health in developed nations such as Europe and America, very few studies have done so in the African continent. Considering that Africa has prominently weak health systems, poor mental health policies and infrastructure, high poverty rates, and unreliable maternal care, the pandemic is expected to have dire consequences on maternal mental health in the region. As such, multipronged mental health interventions and strategies that consider the heterogeneity within and between African regions must be developed. Doing so will close existing and widening global health disparities to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行深刻影响了全球的心理健康和福祉。为控制病毒的快速传播而采取的公共卫生措施，如保持身体距离、社会隔离、封锁、限制行动和检疫，在普通民众中引起了恐惧和恐慌。尽管已经报告了与大流行相关的压力源，但围产期发生的变化以及对产科护理指南的改变，可能会使孕妇和产后母亲面临更高的心理健康不良风险。虽然大量研究已经研究了大流行对欧洲和美洲等发达国家的孕产妇心理健康的影响，但在非洲大陆，这样的研究很少。考虑到非洲的卫生系统薄弱、心理健康政策和基础设施不完善、贫困率高以及孕产妇保健不可靠，预计大流行将对该地区的孕产妇心理健康产生严重后果。因此，必须制定多方面的心理健康干预措施和战略，这些措施和战略既要考虑到非洲区域内部和区域之间的异质性。这样做将缩小现有的和不断扩大的全球健康差距，到 2030 年实现联合国可持续发展目标。
