Emotional well-being of reproductive age women during COVID-19 pandemic

The public crisis related to COVID-19 have altered individuals daily functioning – the impact on social, psychological and emotional well-being remain relatively unknown. Pregnant women are vulnerable population - pandemics can increase the risks of psycho-emotional stress. The aim of the study was to evaluate COVID-19 impact on emotional status of reproductive age women in pregnancy and beyond. The analysis was done by obtaining data from behavioral cross-sectional online survey that was conducted as a part of international multi-country study I-SHARE and the State research project“Impact of COVID-19 on health care system and public health in Latvia; ways in preparing health sector for future epidemic” (VPP-COVID-2020/1-0011). Data regarding reproductive age women (18-50 years old) residing in Latvia were used and divided in two groups – pregnant women (Group 1) and non-pregnant women (Group 2). Data were analyzed with MS Excel and IBM SPSS 26.0. In total information about 70 pregnant and 662 non-pregnant women was received. Pregnant women more often thought their mental health is good (91.4% vs. 75.1%, p=0.002). Group 2(83.7%) felt more tension with their partners than Group 1 (61.4%)[p<0.001]. Both groups marked that the tension increased during COVID-19 restrictions. Group 1 felt more support before (97.1% vs. 91.6%, p=0.102) and during COVID-19 restrictions (90.5% vs.70.4%, p=0.052). Frustration (25.5% vs. 51.9%, p<0.001) was more evident in Group 2 while fear of becoming infected (75.0% vs. 65.5%), confusion about restrictions (36.1% vs. 29.9%), obsession with washing hands(31.5% vs. 32.6%) was similar in both groups (p>0.05). The results indicate that pregnant women in Latvia felt more support and had less tension with their partners during COVID-19 when compared with non-pregnant. Pregnant women considered their mental health as good more often.