Participate Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Stress and anxiety are normal parts of life. Sometime stress and anxiety can be helpful, other times stress and anxiety can do the exact opposite. One of the big questions that people experiencing a pregnancy are asking these days is whether their stress and anxiety affects the development of their baby. The best evidence we have so far seems to indicate that when moms experience mild stress or anxiety during pregnancy, there may be some positive effects on the development of the baby. But higher levels of stress and anxiety during pregnancy have the opposite effect. So how much is an acceptable amount of stress and anxiety? There is no clear answer to this question and finding clearer answers is one of the reasons we are studying pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic study seeks to understand how the mental and physical wellbeing of people who are pregnant and their babies are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. By studying the well-being of pregnant people and their babies, we will learn more about how to support moms and their developing babies during times of uncertainty, stress, or anxiety. This is important because it is possible to reduce or prevent the negative effects of stress and anxiety and doing so contributes to more positive outcomes.