Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Status of Pregnant Women: A Single-Center Study

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced people to make major life changes, and there is concern that depressive tendencies have increased in pregnant women during the pandemic. This study used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), administered in the second trimester, to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the mental health of Japanese women during pregnancy and to provide early intervention. Methods: The study included 1,320 pregnant women (663 pre-COVID-19 and 657 during COVID-19) with similar background characteristics and compared the results for the COVID-19 period (September 2020-August 2021) and control period (September 2018-August 2019). Women treated for psychiatric disorders were excluded. The EPDS cutoff score was 13. Results: The median EPDS scores were 3 (1-6) points during the control period and 3 (1-5) points during the pandemic (p = 0.166) for the control and pandemic periods. Fourteen patients (2.1%) during the control period and 20 (3.0%) during the pandemic scored >= 13 points; however, the difference was not Conclusions: COVID-19 did not change mid-pregnancy EPDS scores at a single Japanese center.