Maternal mental health and its determinants during COVID-19, experience from Kashmir, Northern India

Background:Since the start of the pandemic due to coronavirus 2019, stresses and anxiety have increased in all age-groups. We aimed to study the common mental disorders in pregnant and lactating females and study their fears and copings during the pandemic.Materials and Methods:Purposive sampling was employed in our study. We included all pregnant and lactating females who consented to participate in the study. A total of 95 females were included in our study. We used a semi-structured questionnaire with questions regarding socio-demographic variables and questions related to apprehensions due to COVID-19, belonging to high-risk group, and structured instruments like Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.Results:The mean age of our study population was 30.8 +/- 3.67 years. The majority of our patients were married (93) and homemakers (61) and studied up to 12th grade. Among our patients, 33 tested positive for COVID-19 and 12 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19-related symptoms. Thirty-nine females were pregnant and 56 were lactating. Preexisting medical illness was seen in 23, and psychiatric illness was already present in 19 patients. Major depression was seen in 43% of females, mild anxiety symptoms in 69%, severe anxiety in 8%, mild obsessive compulsive disorder in 16%, and moderate in 10% of cases.Conclusion:In our cases, anxiety and depression were seen in increased prevalence as compared to pre-pandemic levels. Being hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms, social isolation and apprehensions regarding the baby increased the risk of depression.