Social Distancing in the Era of COVID-19: A Call for Maintaining Social Support for the Maternal Population (original) (raw)

2021, Global Health: Science and Practice

Pregnant, laboring, and postpartum women are navigating the challenges inherent to the perinatal period against the backdrop of a global pandemic but without a key protective factor-social support. n Formal and informal social support systems for mothers need to be prioritized, even during pandemics, and failure to do so will greatly affect mothers, their infants, and their whole households. n When determining policies to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), policy makers should take a harm reduction approach that incorporates feasible and innovative strategies to ensure the continuation of maternal social support. n Policy makers need to engage and empower mothers as well as the associated professional communities to voice their needs and to inform and participate in the policy formulation process to ensure the creation of policies that are better suited to maternal social support needs during the pandemic. The perinatal period, which includes both the gestational and postpartum phases, is characterized by substantial biological changes and major life adjustments that can result in various degrees of emotional distress. 8,9 Globally, a significant portion of perinatal women develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. In high-income countries (HICs), the prevalence of depression ranges

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