Anxiety in Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic because of its rapid and extensive spread. Pregnant women are one of the groups vulnerable to COVID-19, and COVID-19 can have an impact on their psychology, including anxiety. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of anxiety in pregnant women, and the related factors, effects and efforts made in dealing with anxiety in pregnant women during the pandemic. The study involved a literature review, and 10 articles were included. These articles were found by searching for keywords including pregnancy, anxiety, Coronavirus, and COVID-19. Four of the articles discussed the anxiety levels of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, two articles discussed factors related to this anxiety, two articles discussed the effects of this anxiety, and two articles discussed the efforts of pregnant women to handle their anxiety during the pandemic. According to the results, most of the pregnant women experienced psychological changes and an increase in anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The factors that affected the level of anxiety included a lack of family support, social isolation, and geographical differences. Keywords: pregnant woman, anxiety, COVID-19, literature review