Birth Experience, Postpartum PTSD and Depression before and during the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Russia

Yakupova, Vera; Suarez, Anna; Kharchenko, Anna

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010335

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Birth Experience, Postpartum PTSD and Depression before and during the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Russia

Vera Yakupova

^*,

Anna Suarez

and

Anna Kharchenko

Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 125009 Moscow, Russia

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: M. Carmen Míguez Varela

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010335

Received: 29 November 2021 / Revised: 25 December 2021 / Accepted: 26 December 2021 / Published: 29 December 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maternal Perinatal Mental Health: 2nd Edition)

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Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the changes in the maternal healthcare system during the pandemic and their associations with maternal mental health in Russia. A sample of Russian women who gave birth during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 1645) and matched controls, i.e., women who gave birth before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 611), completed an anonymous Internet survey about recent childbirth. They were assessed for childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and postpartum depression (PPD). Clinically relevant symptoms of PPD and PTSD were high before the pandemic and showed no significant change during the pandemic (p = 0.48 and p = 0.64, respectively). We found a notable increase in the frequency of obstetric violence (p = 0.015) during the pandemic, which, in turn, has a strong correlation with birth-related PTSD and PPD. The problem of ethical communication with patients among maternal healthcare professionals is acute in Russia, and it has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Family and doula support during labor can be a potential protective factor against obstetric violence. View Full-Text

Keywords: postpartum depression; postpartum PTSD; obstetric violence; COVID-19 pandemic; birth experience

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Yakupova, V.; Suarez, A.; Kharchenko, A. Birth Experience, Postpartum PTSD and Depression before and during the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Russia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 335. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010335

AMA Style

Yakupova V, Suarez A, Kharchenko A. Birth Experience, Postpartum PTSD and Depression before and during the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Russia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(1):335. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010335

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yakupova, Vera, Anna Suarez, and Anna Kharchenko. 2022. "Birth Experience, Postpartum PTSD and Depression before and during the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Russia" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 1: 335. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010335

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