Study uncovers pregnant women's fears during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a survey-based study published in Nursing Open, fear was present in 95.2% of pregnant women during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fears of possibly transmitting an infection to the fetus, of experiencing loneliness during childbirth, and of being separated from the newborn were most common.

For the study, 62 pregnant women in Spain completed an anonymous survey via virtual media during the confinement period of April 1 to May 1, 2020.

"Pregnant women faced heightened anxiety during the pandemic. The length of pregnancy, age, or inexperience with other births were not shown to influence pregnant women's fears," said corresponding author Carmen Ropero-Padilla, Ph.D., of Universitat Jaume I.