Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted new mothers’ wellbeing and breastfeeding experience. Women have experienced changes in birth and postnatal care and restricted access to their support network. It is unclear how these impacts may have changed over time with shifting rates of infection and policies restricting movement and access to services in Australia and New Zealand. This study investigated the longitudinal effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand. Mothers (n = 246) completed an online survey every 4 weeks for 6 months that examined feeding methods, maternal mental wellbeing, worries, challenges, and positive experiences during the pandemic.

Breastfeeding mothers have had limited access to breastfeeding support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate breastfeeding practices during the COVID-19 period and to determine the factors associated with supporting exclusive breastfeeding. A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was adopted, including a quantitative method in the first phase and qualitative method in the second phase. Mothers whose babies were aged over 6 months to 24 months old from July to September 2021 in Pekanbaru City were selected as research subjects. Data analysis was performed with multivariate and deductive content analysis. Of 156 participants, 97 mothers (62.2%) exclusively breastfed their babies. Of those, mothers who delivered exclusive breastfeeding worked less than eight hours per day, were aged 17–25 and had low education. Though by using exclusive breastfeeding practice as a reference, associated supports, including emotional, instrumental, appraisal and information regarding exclusive breastfeeding practice were insignificant; however, mothers who practice exclusive breastfeeding had higher information support.

The study aimed to assess and compare the global development in six-month-old infants before and during the pandemic restrictive social distancing measures. This cross-sectional nested study involved infants assessed through the Griffiths Scales of Child Development (GSCD) between September 2019 and April 2021. Infants were classified in a pre-COVID or a COVID group, considering the evaluation date and the restrictive measures in place. GSCD subscales and General Development Scores (GDS) were calculated and compared.

Early COVID-19 delivery room reports routinely described maternal and neonatal physical distancing, in both confirmed or suspected cases. Immediately, breastfeeding experts expressed their concern for the potential catastrophic consequences of such separation, with great potential for breastfeeding discontinuity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This manuscript reports a positive experience of early breastfeeding promotion and maintenance in labour and delivery room, from the time of the first cases of COVID-19, confirmed or suspected, at a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and tertiary teaching hospital in Recife, in the northeastern region of Brazil.

Safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy is a particular concern affecting vaccination uptake by this vulnerable group. Here we evaluated evidence from 23 studies including 117,552 COVID-19 vaccinated pregnant people, almost exclusively with mRNA vaccines. This study shows that the effectiveness of mRNA vaccination against RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection 7 days after second dose was 89·5% (95% CI 69·0-96·4%, 18,828 vaccinated pregnant people, I2 = 73·9%). The risk of stillbirth was significantly lower in the vaccinated cohort by 15% (pooled OR 0·85; 95% CI 0·73–0·99, 66,067 vaccinated vs. 424,624 unvaccinated, I2 = 93·9%). There was no evidence of a higher risk of adverse outcomes including miscarriage, earlier gestation at birth, placental abruption, pulmonary embolism, postpartum haemorrhage, maternal death, intensive care unit admission, lower birthweight Z-score, or neonatal intensive care unit admission (p > 0.05 for all). COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in pregnancy appears to be safe and is associated with a reduction in stillbirth.

COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the utilization of maternal and newborn child health services in Nigeria but the extent, directions, contextual factors at all the levels of healthcare service delivery in Nigeria is yet to be fully explored. The objective of the study was to explore the barriers and facilitators of access to MNCH services during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. A qualitative study was conducted among different stakeholder groups in 18 public health facilities in Nigeria between May and July,2020. In-depth interviews were conducted among 54 study participants (service users, service providers and policymakers) selected from across the three tiers of public health service delivery system in Nigeria (primary health centers, secondary health centers and tertiary health centers). Coding of the qualitative data and identification of themes from the transcripts were carried out and thematic approach was used for data analyses.

The government's policy in implementing the New Normal to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has changed all aspects of society, including the family environment. In current conditions, parenting is the most important thing in determining optimal child development (Dewi and Khotimah, 2020). The conditions of parenting and communication in the family have both positive and negative impacts on children's development. (Kuswanti, Munadhil, Zainal & Oktarina, 2020). The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of information about the COVID-19 pandemic on toddlers’ parenting. This study was a cross-sectional analytical study. This study used a bivariate data analysis with Chi Square test

Routine postnatal care (PNC) allows monitoring, early detection and management of complications, and counselling to ensure immediate and long-term wellbeing of mothers and newborns; yet effective coverage is sub-optimal globally. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted availability and quality of maternal and newborn care despite established guidelines promoting continuity of essential services. We conducted a cross-sectional global online survey of 424 maternal and newborn healthcare providers from 61 countries, to explore PNC provision, availability, content and quality following the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire (11 languages), included four multiple-choice and four open-text questions on changes to PNC during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative responses received between July and December 2020 were analysed separately and integrated during reporting.

Studies have shown that infant temperament varies with maternal psychosocial factors, in utero illness, and environmental stressors. This study predicted that the pandemic would shape infant temperament through maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and/or maternal postnatal stress. To test this, it examined associations among infant temperament, maternal prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection, maternal postnatal stress, and postnatal COVID-related life disruptions.

This study aimed to investigate the frequency of Postpartum Depression (PPD) and maternal attachment status in a region with a low socioeconomic level during the Covid-19 pandemic.Two hundred women who gave birth in our hospital were evaluated on postpartum 10th day with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Maternal Attachment Inventory (MBI).

Postpartum depression and maternal-infant attachment scores were examined in uninfected women during the COVID 19 pandemic in Kutahya, a rural province in Turkey's North Aegean region. This cohort study was conducted in the Kutahya Health Sciences University Hospital obstetrics unit between April 2021 and August 2021. 178 low-risk term pregnant women who gave birth were given the surveys Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale and Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBQ) 6 weeks after birth. The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale was used to determine postpartum depression and the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale was used to determine maternal attachment.