Davis Ka'Derricka M, Lu Layna, Williams Brittney, Roas-Gomez Maria V, Leziak Karolina, Jackson Jenise, Feinglass Joe, Yee Lynn M
Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2022 Nov 9;3(1):895-903. doi: 10.1089/whr.2022.0029. eCollection 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic produced a major shift in parental roles, which disproportionally exacerbated existing challenges for low-income new parents. Our objective was to identify pandemic-related parenting challenges experienced by low-income postpartum individuals in the context of the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Semistructured interviews with 40 low-income postpartum individuals were conducted within 10 weeks after giving birth in April 2020-June 2020. Interviews addressed maternal health and well-being, parental stress, including COVID-related barriers to providing for children, and access to essential services. Interview themes were developed using the constant comparative method.
Half ( = 20) the participants identified as non-Hispanic Black and 38% ( = 15) as Hispanic; 75% ( = 30) were parents of multiple children. Parenting-related themes included challenges of parenting multiple children, barriers to maintaining self-care, and novel barriers to providing for children. Participants discussed handling new roles as educators, struggles with entertaining, allocating time among children, and effects of the pandemic on older children. Participants frequently described their lack of alone time, changes in self-care and coping strategies due to continuous parenting, and effects on maternal mental health like increased anxiety. Many participants reported lack of communal support, financial stress, and difficulty accessing services.
New burdens introduced by the pandemic challenged low-income individuals' health and well-being. Understanding these psychosocial stressors and developing interventions to ameliorate these burdens may be key to promoting family health during difficult times; one potential solution for preventing postpartum depression is offering continual social services. Clinical Trial No.: NCT03922334.
新冠疫情导致父母角色发生重大转变，这对低收入新父母而言，加剧了他们面临的现有挑战，且这种影响极不均衡。我们的目标是确定在新冠疫情初期的几个月里，低收入产后人群所经历的与疫情相关的育儿挑战。
2020年4月至2020年6月期间，在产后10周内对40名低收入产后人群进行了半结构化访谈。访谈内容涉及产妇健康与幸福、父母压力，包括与新冠疫情相关的抚养孩子的障碍，以及获得基本服务的情况。访谈主题采用持续比较法确定。
一半（n = 20）的参与者为非西班牙裔黑人，38%（n = 15）为西班牙裔；75%（n = 30）是多个孩子的父母。与育儿相关的主题包括养育多个孩子的挑战、维持自我护理的障碍以及抚养孩子的新障碍。参与者讨论了承担教育者新角色的困难、娱乐方面的困扰、在孩子之间分配时间的问题，以及疫情对年长孩子的影响。参与者经常提到他们缺乏独处时间、由于持续育儿导致自我护理和应对策略的改变，以及对产妇心理健康的影响，如焦虑加剧。许多参与者报告缺乏社区支持、经济压力以及获得服务的困难。
疫情带来的新负担对低收入人群的健康和幸福构成了挑战。了解这些社会心理压力源并制定减轻这些负担的干预措施，可能是在困难时期促进家庭健康的关键；预防产后抑郁症的一个潜在解决方案是提供持续的社会服务。临床试验编号：NCT03922334。
