Reflections of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Women's Psychosocial Health during Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Cross-sectional Cohort Study

The aim of the project is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has affected the whole world, on the psychosocial health of pregnant women and new mothers. It has been determined that the high education level of pregnant women, fear of giving birth in the hospital due to the epidemic, worrying about breastfeeding at the end of the birth, and worrying about the negative impact of the baby's health show a significant difference according to the COVID-19 fear level and anxiety level. It was determined that there is a statistically significant relationship between the level of fear of COVID-19 and anxiety of mothers in the postpartum period, and the negative effects of news and social media during the epidemic. As a result of in-depth interviews with health personnel; changes in the epidemic process; Three main themes were determined as care and difficulties encountered during the epidemic process and individual attitudes and behaviors that changed during the epidemic process. As a result of the study, it was observed that pregnant women had care needs in terms of fear of COVID-19, anxiety and fear of childbirth. It is thought that the results of this project, which evaluates the reflections of the pandemic on the psychosocial health of pregnant women and postpartum mothers, will strengthen the literature on perinatal mental health.