Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Under normal, non-pandemic circumstances, new moms typically experience feelings of isolation and a huge identity shift when they go on maternity leave, because we lose our daily interactions with most other adults. New motherhood is not unlike lockdown: A trip to the grocery store may be the highlight of your week. The pandemic’s stay-at-home orders have intensified and compounded these
feelings of stress and isolation, complicating everyday tasks. Even bundling up the baby and getting to postpartum appointments (particularly if you’re car-less) can be fraught with anxiety about germs and logistics.
“About 80 percent of women at three months postpartum say they are feeling more alone than they did prior to the pandemic, and about 28 percent say that their feelings of isolation increased dramatically,” says Gerald Giesbrecht, an associate professor of paediatrics and community health sciences at the University of Calgary and co-author of the Pregnancy During the Pandemic study, which includes data from more than 8,200 Canadian women and counting. “Fear of the baby being harmed by the coronavirus and added responsibilities during quarantine are also major contributors to stress.”