Authors: Natalie Jenn H. Mapula, Rohamina D. Omar, Erica May I. Pineda, Sean Nicolas S. Bawisan, and Tashmera D. Laranjo
Department of Nursing, College of Arts and Sciences Mindanao State University Buug, Datu Panas, Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines
Email: tashmera.laranjo@msubuug.edu.ph
ABSTRACT
Pregnancy is a moment of time when stress and anxiety are at their peak. Pregnant women might be worried about their baby's health as well as their own (Ford, 2021). Unexpectedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted family planning and maternal and newborn health services globally. As the national and local health systems are overwhelmed by the necessary response to the COVID-19 patients, attention, and resource for women's health might have been diverted. Pregnant women's utilization of facilities for ante-natal check-up and delivery is declining, because of services disruption, difficulty in commuting, and their fear of contract-ing COVID-19 (UPPI and UNFPA, 2020). The present study utilized the descriptive method of research using the questionnaires adapted from Ahorsu, D. K. et al. (2020), Alipour A, et al. (2020), and Alipour, A, et al (2020). A total of sixty-seven (67) respond-ents from the nine (9) selected barangays of the Municipality of Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay were considered as respondents of the study. The obtained data were then analyzed. The results revealed that the pregnant women had high fear with a general weighted mean of 3.06 and they also had high anxiety with a general weighted mean of 2.74 of COVID-19. Based on the result of this study, it was undeniable that pregnant women in Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay had high level of stress and fear brought by COVID 19 pandemic outbreak. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention on the welfare and mental health of the pregnant women during pandemic situation. In addition, it is recommended to establish health policy that will strengthen the health promotion program for pregnant women especially in this challenging time - the attack of Covid 19 pandemic.
Keywords: covid-19, pandemic, fear, and anxiety