Reproductive System & Sexual Disorders: Current Research
Open Access

Abstract

Pregnancy and Postpartum in the Context of Covid-19

Rukhsana Gazi1 ** and Labiba Mustabina Oishee2*

 As the COVID-19 pandemic unraveled in 2020, the world came to a standstill. However, millions of women continued to become pregnant, making what is usually a cherished event a matter of concern and immense duress for the mothers. What ensued was a series of emotional, socio-cultural and physical repercussions on pregnant mothers, making especially COVID-19 positive mothers highly vulnerable to the negative impacts in all these aspects. This article aims to explore these repercussions in the light of emerging evidence from ongoing research alongside how healthcare systems responded to overcome the barriers in provision of care to pregnant mothers. Various prenatal and postnatal implications are elaborated upon, including the possibility of vertical transmission of COVID-19 to the fetus, the importance of institutional delivery and breastfeeding. Moreover, the distribution of risk for COVID-19 is discussed to shed a light on how ethnicity, income and resource-poor settings can act as determinants for increased mortality, genderbased violence and depression in pregnant mothers during the pandemic.

Published Date: 2021-03-22; Received Date: 2021-02-05