Tokophobia and Anxiety in Pregnant Women during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Poland—A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study

Marta Makara-Studzińska, Kornelia Zaręba, Natalia Kawa and Dorota Matuszyk
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Marta Makara-Studzińska: Department of Health Psychology, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Cracow, Poland
Kornelia Zaręba: First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, 01-004 Warsaw, Poland
Natalia Kawa: Department of Health Psychology, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-501 Cracow, Poland
Dorota Matuszyk: Laboratory of Fundamentals in Obstetric Care, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 58 Zamoyskiego St., 31-523 Cracow, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus emerged in the world at the end of 2019. The introduction of a number of restrictions had a significant effect on numerous aspects of human life with particular influence being exerted on pregnant women and their sense of security. The study aimed to assess the level of anxiety and its main determinants in women in the third trimester of pregnancy during the coronavirus pandemic. The study technique included the present purposely designed questionnaire, Labor Anxiety Questionnaire (KLPII), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The study was conducted in a group of 315 women in the third trimester of pregnancy. A total of 258 women (81.9%) completed the questionnaire in May 2020, and 57 of them (18.1%) completed it in October 2020. The overall analysis of the Labor Anxiety Questionnaire and the STAI inventory revealed a high level of anxiety, particularly situational anxiety, in pregnant women during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The age and financial status of the women were the factors which contributed to the intensification of tokophobia. Women interviewed in October 2020 were characterized by higher tokophobia levels compared to the respondents included in May 2020. It seems justified to in-crease the vigilance in the diagnostics of possible mental disorders in the perinatal period during pandemic.

Keywords: tokophobia; perinatal anxiety; SARS-CoV-2; perinatal depression; perinatal stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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