Objectives: This study explored the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the relationship between certain sociodemographic factors these depressive and anxiety symptoms among the participants. Methodology: This research used a quantitative cross sectional study design. The participants were selected through convenience and snowball sampling. They answered a Sociodemographic Survey, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Frequency and Percentage were used to describe the sociodemographic characteristics and to tabulate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis was used to determine the relationship between certain sociodemographic factors and depressive and anxiety symptoms among the participants. Results: Of the 212 women in this sample, 96.2% showed anxiety and 43.9% manifested depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Younger participants and those in post- partum experienced higher levels of anxiety while those with lower educational attainment had lower levels of anxiety as well as that of depression. Those with more pregnancies were more likely to have higher levels of depression and those at 2nd and 3rd Trimester of their pregnancy were less likely to develop higher levels of depression than those during their postpartum period. Conclusion This study demonstrated that certain concerns during the pandemic represented a significant risk factor for mental distress among pregnant women as well as those who had just given birth. Screening of patients for possible psychiatric symptoms and common concerns should be prioritized upon their routine ante-natal care. Support measures must be considered for women during pregnancy or perinatal period to safeguard this susceptible population.
Depression ; Anxiety ; Pregnancy ; Covid 19