The Importance of Antenatal Partner Support

Perspectives of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Background

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have profound effects on pregnant women globally, particularly, on their psycho-social wellbeing. Despite this, there has been limited qualitative inquiry into the experiences of pregnant women during the pandemic.

Aim

This original research aimed to study the perspectives of pregnant women in Australia in relation to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their pregnancy experience.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive study design with semi-structured interviews was adopted. The study was performed in Melbourne, Australia. A total of fifteen interviews were conducted. Data was analysed thematically to develop major themes and subthemes.

Results

A total of four major themes were developed: support for a positive experience, impact on preparedness in pregnancy and beyond, facing uncertainty of a pandemic, and retaining resilience and optimism.

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the experience of pregnant women with potential to compromise their psycho-social wellbeing. The major themes identified in this study offer insight to organisations to develop woman-centred care during the pandemic and optimise the psycho-social wellbeing of pregnant women.

Paternal Acculturation and Maternal Health Behaviors: Influence of Father's Ethnicity and Place of Birth

OBJECTIVES

Studies show disparities in maternal health behaviors according to acculturation, but whether paternal factors influence these patterns is unknown. We assessed the relationships between fathers' ethnicity and place of birth with maternal smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding initiation overall and for 30 major ethnic groups.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were from the Standard Certificate of Live Births on 1,053,096 births in Massachusetts between 1996 through 2010. We examined the concordance of maternal and paternal ethnicity and place of birth across three categories (United States-born white, United States-born Other ethnicity, and foreign-born), and then in relation to maternal smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding initiation. Multivariable models adjusted for maternal age, marital status, education, plurality, parity, prenatal care, delivery source of payment, and year of birth.

RESULTS

United States-born white mothers were less likely to smoke during pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60, 0.73) and more likely to initiate breastfeeding (AOR 1.56; 95% CI: 1.46, 1.66) if their partners were foreign-born. In contrast, foreign-born mothers whose partners were United States-born of Other ethnicity or United States-born white had a 1.65-5.12 higher odds of smoking during pregnancy and were 26%-41% less likely (AORs 0.59-0.74) to initiate breastfeeding than if their partners were also foreign-born. Results were consistent across most racial/ethnic groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings offer new insight into the social pathways by which acculturation impacts maternal health behaviors and add to growing evidence that fathers are valuable to maternal health. Future efforts to understand how acculturation results in poorer maternal health behaviors should account for paternal influences.