THE NEED
Maternal anxiety, depression, stress, distress, and feelings of being overwhelmed are not new occurrences. Pre-pandemic, it was estimated that approximately 29% of pregnant mothers experience moderate to high levels of anxiety. (Statistics on Rates of Postpartum Depression, n.d.) Clinical researchers are evaluating the pandemic’s influence on stress, including health concerns, economic impacts, and social isolation.
171% increase in women with postpartum depression* In comparison with pre-pandemic mothers, a recent study from the NIH (Ahmad & Vismara, 2021) shows: 148% increase of women reporting moderate to high anxiety 14% increase in depressive symptoms
*The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression screen measures how symptoms of depression impact daily life.
“The prevalence rates of mental disorders among pregnant and postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic were high. Timely and tailored interventions should be applied to mitigate mental problems among this population of women, especially multigravida women and women in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy.”
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY (Yan, Ding, & Guo, 2020)
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Maternal Brain Health in an Era of a Global Pandemic
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