The global pandemic of COVID-19 has disrupted life around the world. There is much to be done to ameliorate adverse effects on physical and mental health, especially for women and babies in low-to-middle income countries. An increasing body of research has been generated documenting the adverse effects of COVID-19 on childbearing women and babies. Systematic reviews of studies of the effects of COVID-19 infection on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes have been published (Chmielewska et al., 2021; Papapanou et al., 2021). Maternity mortality rates were 2%, stillbirths 2.5%, neonatal intensive care unit admission (NICU) rates were from 3.1% to 7.69%, and neonatal mortality rates were 3%. There were higher rates of admission to maternal intensive care units and NICUs compared with patients without COVID-19. There were no documented effects on other maternal outcomes including maternal diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preterm birth, labor induction, mode of birth, or postpartum hemorrhage related to COVID-19 infection (Chmielewska et al.; Papapanou et al.).

Disparities in maternal complications including maternal mortality were noted in African nations and other low-income countries when compared with high-income resource settings (Kotlar et al., 2021; Ogunkola et al., 2021). A possible explanation of the increase in health complications in COVID-19 positive childbearing women may be reduced access to prenatal and postpartum care (Chmielewska et al., 2021). More research is needed to determine if the decreased number of prenatal and postpartum encounters and shorter hospitalizations for childbirth and influences perinatal outcomes during a pandemic. Maternal mental health has been affected, with a higher incidence of anxiety, depression higher levels of stress noted (Liu et al., 2021; Preis et al., 2021). More research is needed on pandemics and the effects on mental health among pregnant women and new mothers. An example of a global collaboration designed to address mental health concerns during the pandemic includes the Global Mental Health Peer Network partnering with Human Rights in Mental Health-Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry to promote user-oriented mental health (Kola et al., 2021).

These reviews highlight importance of continuing to generate robust data on the effects of the global pandemic on maternal, fetal, and neonatal health. The findings document the significance of creating global nursing interventions to more fully meet the mental and physical health care needs in childbearing women, especially during pandemics (Kola et al., 2021). Nurses are the health care professionals who care for nearly every childbearing woman around the globe and thus are uniquely positioned to improve outcomes.

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