Introduction:
Covid-19 which was initially perceived as a regional ”epidemic”
affecting China and its surroundings, began to cross the Asian borders
and then threatened public health globally in the following
days.1,2 Thereafter, The World Health Organization
(WHO) declared Covid-19 a Global pandemic, most of the countries closed
its borders and people were quarantined.3 The novel
coronavirus, named as SARS-CoV-2, spreads primarily thru human to human
transmission when people are in close contact4 for
this reason, businesses, schools, places of worship, restaurants closed
and many social events cancelled. Isolation and inadequate information
about the outbreak caused fear. Psychological distress and symptoms of
mental disorders have increased during the pandemic such as
Covid-19.5, 6 During the 2003 SARS outbreak,
post-traumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms had elevated
after quarantine process in Toronto, Canada.7
The fear of getting infected affects the entire population, but it is
felt more in pregnant women who are especially sensitive because of the
anxiety of contamination of the fetus. Although Covid-19 pneumonia is
not common in the pregnancy age group, pregnant women are vulnerable,
due to physiological immunosuppression. 8
There are limited studies about psychological wellness in pregnancy
during an outbreak. The exaggerated fear of encountering infection in
pregnant women was shown in a study of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong
Kong.9
Its known that maternal anxiety is associated with poor perinatal
outcomes as preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age
and smaller head circumference.10,11
Although it is important to get adequate psychosocial support during
pregnancy, pregnant women feel lonely because of quarentine process in a
pandemic. Furthermore they also avoid visits to their physicians in fear
of encountering infection in public transports or at the hospital.,
When the Covid-19 pandemic reached Istanbul-Turkey,
our research team utilized the
opportunity to research the psychological impact of Covid-19 on pregnant
women during their visit to the our maternity ward and outpatient clinic
with face to face surveys