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Like many moms across the world, Candice Thomas gave birth during the pandemic. 

“I was so nervous that my anxiety would just grow,” Thomas told us. “I had days that I didn’t get out of bed and I cried for a few hours. Sometimes just putting my coat on to go outside seemed too much for me. I had to be strong for my daughter, but as the days went by, it got harder and harder. It kept me up at night.”

Thomas suffered from debilitating postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Olivia, four and a half years ago. Already at high risk of developing a perinatal mental illness again, Thomas was concerned her fears over the pandemic as well as the need to physically distance from loved ones would most certainly bring it on again, and earlier.

“COVID-19 changed the way I coped,” said Thomas. “Going out often to visit family and friends was part of my routine to decompress. During the pandemic, even though I could see them virtually, it wasn't the same. The connection wasn’t there.”

A new study says perinatal mental illness rates have tripled during the pandemic. The study looked at the experiences of 670 women in the U.S. between February and July 2020. The women completed an online survey that contained the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Researchers found that one in three women screened positive for postpartum depression and one in five had major depressive symptoms. 

“Sometimes people will say you can do it or it’ll pass,” said Thomas. “It makes me feel like I’m in a world of my own, like they don’t see or feel what I’m feeling, like a car is running me over but they don’t see the car they just see me laying down and they want me to just get up. I think being pregnant is hard enough and then adding an unprecedented pandemic to it just makes it seem that much harder.”

What Perinatal Mental Health Was Like Before The Pandemic

Dr. Ryan Van Lieshout of McMaster University who is also Canada Research Chair in the Perinatal Programming of Mental Disorders told us that just one in ten women are getting access to evidence-based treatment for perinatal mental illness. He and his research team are working hard to find creative ways to increase access to talking therapies. They’ve trained public health nurses in the Niagara region in Ontario to deliver therapy to groups for postpartum depression and they’ve trained a group of women who have recovered from postpartum depression in Brantford to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy to women who are struggling.

“Screening programs through public health are detecting more women but the problem is that when they go to their family doctor, most of whom aren’t trained in talking therapies, they are prescribed medications that many don’t want to take, and are left wondering what to do next,” Dr. Van Lieshout told us. “Therapy rates can be expensive and even prohibitively so, and since there are such long wait lists in the publicly funded system, many women are left in the lurch.”

And this was without the added stress of COVID-19.

Once the pandemic hit, Dr. Van Lieshout became concerned that women were getting less access to screening and treatment and wrote an article published in The Conversation with advice for women on how to navigate this difficult time.

“One of the biggest things that many women are struggling with is concerns about their own health and the health of their families,” Dr. Van Lieshout told us. “They’re concerned that they may catch it or, that loved ones including their infant may catch it and that could produce untoward outcomes for them and their families. It’s also putting moms in really close quarters without much of a break, or time for rest. With the physical distancing recommendations, a lot of moms are feeling constrained not only in terms with what they can do and in terms of their breaks, but also their ability to use some of the coping strategies that might help them whether it’s exercise or going out and seeing friends or connecting or doing these other things.”

Dr. Ariel Dalfen is the head of the Perinatal Mental Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. She believes there will be an increase in perinatal mental illness due to the pandemic.

“I think we’ll see a lot more anxiety and depression because of increasing isolation,” Dr. Dalfen told us. “I do anticipate that the rates of perinatal mental illness will increase. I worry that post-traumatic stress disorder from labour and the hospital experience will increase as well.”

In addition to isolation, Dr. Dalfen says parents are also worried about the effects of COVID-19 on their babies and whether the virus can be transmitted through breast milk, not to mention the stress of not being able to have support people present at the birth.

“Living through a pandemic with all the unknowns and uncertainties is really impacting pregnant people who have higher interactions with the health care system,” said Dr. Dalfen. “People are worried they won’t get their needs met if something happens.”