The impact of pregnant women's health-seeking behaviour and mode of
birth preferences on pregnancy distress during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affects health of pregnant women and
their attitudes and behaviours related to pregnancy and birth. Aim: To
explore the impact of pregnant women’s health-seeking behaviour and mode
of birth preferences on pregnancy distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Material and Method: The type of this study is cross-sectional. It was
conducted with 351 pregnant women admitted to the pregnancy outpatient
clinic. The data were collected using the “Pregnancy Information Form,
the Pregnancy Distress Scale, and the Health Seeking Behaviour Scale”.
The data were evaluated with Wilcoxon, Binary Logistic, and Linear
regression analysis. STROBE checklist guide was followed in the study.
Results: The study revealed that the total pregnancy distress score and
risky distress levels of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic
were higher than before. On average, four out of every five pregnant
women (81.2%) stated that they experienced difficulties (decreased
social support, finding information suspicious, having to go to the
hospital) during the pandemic. During the pandemic, pregnant women
mostly wanted to get information about the impacts of COVID-19 on the
health of pregnant (59.54%) and foetus (67.81%). Increased
health-seeking behaviour in pregnant women decreased the pregnancy
distress stemming from inadequate partner involvement. 11.3% of the
pregnant women have changed their mode of birth preferences due to the
pandemic. The risk of pregnancy distress increased 5.4 times in those
who changed their mode of birth due to pandemic compared to those who
preferred vaginal birth before and during the pandemic. Conclusion:
There is effect of their health-seeking behaviour and mode of birth
preference on distress of the pregnant women during pandemic. Health
professionals should reduce the distress of the pregnant woman by
ensuring the continuity of antenatal care and counseling services during
the pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant women, distress,
health-seeking behaviour, mode of birth