Nursing Department, School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Sep 5;22(1):685. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-05017-y.
The current COVID-19 pandemic is a unique stressor with potentially challenging and negative consequences on the experiences of pregnant and postpartum women. International literature highlights the pandemic's negative impact on women's perinatal experiences. This is the first study in the scientific literature reporting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the perinatal experiences of a large sample of women living in Cyprus.
To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences, concerns and needs of pregnant and postpartum women in Cyprus.
The cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2020 to January 2021. A total of 695 women, 355 pregnant and 340 postpartum women (with infants up to 6 months of age), residing in Cyprus were surveyed.
The great majority of the participants (80.9%) perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their life as negative. The greatest sources of stress were identified and quantified for their impact on the participants. Our findings indicate that 74.1% of the pregnant women were concerned about changes due to COVID-19 measures impacting the presence of their family at the time of delivery, 57.2% about their newborn's health, and 43.1% about changes related to perinatal care. Postpartum women's concerns were mainly related to the welfare and health of their child (70.3%), whilst half of them (49.1%) expressed concerns about how they were going to care for their baby because of pandemic-related changes. Qualitative data revealed emerging themes as the basis of the pregnant and postpartum women's concerns and needs.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated imposed measures and restrictions had adverse effects on pregnant and postpartum women's perinatal experiences in Cyprus. The women's concerns emphasized the need for the development of specialized, evidenced-based support systems which are essential particularly in pandemic-like situations, when pregnant and postpartum women are more vulnerable to isolation.
当前的 COVID-19 大流行是一个独特的压力源，可能对孕妇和产后妇女的经历产生具有挑战性和负面影响。国际文献强调了大流行对女性围产期经历的负面影响。这是第一项在科学文献中报告 COVID-19 大流行对居住在塞浦路斯的大量妇女围产期经历影响的研究。
研究 COVID-19 大流行对塞浦路斯孕妇和产后妇女经历、关注和需求的影响。
这项横断面研究于 2020 年 7 月至 2021 年 1 月进行。共调查了居住在塞浦路斯的 695 名妇女，其中 355 名孕妇和 340 名产后妇女（婴儿 6 个月以下）。
绝大多数参与者（80.9%）认为 COVID-19 大流行对他们生活的影响是负面的。确定并量化了最大的压力源，以了解其对参与者的影响。我们的研究结果表明，74.1%的孕妇担心因 COVID-19 措施而导致分娩时家人无法在场，57.2%担心新生儿的健康，43.1%担心围产期护理的变化。产后妇女的担忧主要与孩子的福利和健康有关（70.3%），而其中一半（49.1%）表示担心由于与大流行相关的变化，他们将如何照顾婴儿。定性数据揭示了一些新兴主题，这些主题是孕妇和产后妇女关注和需求的基础。
COVID-19 大流行及其相关的实施措施和限制对塞浦路斯孕妇和产后妇女的围产期经历产生了不利影响。这些妇女的担忧强调了需要制定专门的、基于证据的支持系统，这在大流行等情况下尤为重要，因为孕妇和产后妇女更容易感到孤立。
