Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perinatal mental health screening, illness and pregnancy outcomes: A cohort study

BACKGROUND: The aim was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perinatal mental health screening, illness and related pregnancy complications/outcomes. METHODS: A single-centre retrospective cohort study in mothers giving birth before versus during the pandemic. Primary outcomes were the comparative prevalence/incidence of peripartum psychiatric diagnoses. Secondary outcomes were the pandemic's effect on psychiatric screening accuracy, and on other pregnancy outcomes linked to mental health. RESULTS: The pandemic did not significantly increase the crude incidence of diagnosed peripartum anxiety (risk ratio (RR) = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.66–2.95), depression (RR = 1.63, 95% CI = 0.72–3.70) or other pregnancy outcomes. In multivariate models, the pandemic decreased Apgar scores and was involved in interaction effects for postpartum mental illness and birthweight. Psychiatric screening at the booking appointment exhibited lower sensitivity in predicting antenatal mental illness (pre-pandemic = 85.71%, pandemic = 25.00%; p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The lowered screening sensitivity likely meant mental illness was poorly anticipated/under-detected during the pandemic, leading to no crude increase in perinatal psychiatric diagnoses.