An Overview of Anxiety Levels in Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Pregnant women often experience
anxiety because hormonal changes affect physical and
psychological changes during pregnancy. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant women are worried
about regular checkups during pregnancy in the health
services because they are afraid of being exposed to
the virus, especially in cities or regions with social
restrictions. This study aims to describe the anxiety
levels in pregnant women during the COVID-19
pandemic in Surabaya.
Methods: This study was descriptive research with
a quantitative design. The population was pregnant
women living in Surabaya during May – July 2020.
Meanwhile, there were 100 respondents by purposive
sampling. The instrument was the Hamilton Anxiety
Rating Scale (HARS) to determine the anxiety levels.
The method of collecting data utilized a questionnaire
through a google form link distributed to respondents.
Then, the data were analyzed univariately and
presented in a frequency distribution.
Results: The study results revealed that 44 % of
respondents had moderate anxiety levels, 31 % had
severe anxiety, and 25 % had mild anxiety.
Conclusion: In conclusion, most pregnant women
in Surabaya experience moderate anxiety levels,
followed by severe anxiety levels during the COVID-19
pandemic. Concerns about the risk of COVID-19
transmission increase anxiety levels in pregnant
women. Antenatal care (ANC) visit restrictions could
be replaced by online communication and consultation
on the Maternal and Child Health (MHC) handbook
conducted by health workers.
Keywords: Anxiety levels, COVID-19 pandemic,
pregnant women