Pregnancy in the Era of COVID-19. A Multiple Bio-Psychological Challenge

Psychiatr Danub. 2021 Dec;33(Suppl 13):412-414.

Abstract

Pregnant women and their fetuses represent a high-risk population during infectious disease outbreaks, like current COVID-19 Pandemic, given the fact that consequences of a period of intense stress and anxiety during pregnancy, as spontaneous preterm labor and psychiatric postpartum disorders, are already known. As fetal brain faces neurodevelopmental challenges in a cytotoxic environment of possible inflammation and increased catecholamine levels, mother also has to cope with a hostile environment of uncertainty, rich in bio-social threats that can be devastating for both maternal and fetal health, as well as for Public Health.

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety
  • COVID-19*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Pandemics
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnant Women
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Stress, Psychological / complications