Comment: Mental health care for pregnant women in the COVID-19 outbreak is urgently needed.

Infection diseases is one of the biggest threats to all human race. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is also named Novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) by China government, is a highly infectious disease and was a global public health emergency as declared by World Health Organization (WHO), first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, at the end of 2019 [1]. To support the battle against the COVID-19, China has adopted some measures immediately, including isolation suspected people, suspending public transport, close monitoring of contacts, collecting clinical data and biological samples, mobilizing the country’s largest and strongest medical force, opening psychological counseling hotlines and building special hospitals in Wuhan [[2], [3], [4], [5]].

Public panic and mental health stress have been caused by COVID-19 in China, especially pregnancy women [6], though the government has took some measures to improve individuals’ awareness of prevention and intervention strategies and some psychologists and psychiatrists have strived to deal with psychological stress by using social and internet medias [6]. In China, The implementation of second-child policy (allows all couples to have up to two children) starting from late 2015 has led to a steady growth of pregnant women and newborns [7]. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of babies born in 2019 was 14.65 million and the birth rate was 10.48 per thousand [8]. Although infection by the COVID-19 may have adverse effects on newborns, recent medical research has yet to confirm mother-to-baby transmission [1]. About 10% of pregnant women have experienced a mental disorder, primarily depression worldwide and it was even higher in developing countries [9]. A previous study showed that there were 28.5% of Chinese pregnant women with depressive symptoms during the late pregnancy [10]. What’s more, despite travel restrictions have been adopted, some pregnant women have to go to the hospital for regular inspections letting them fear of infection, which could lead to worsening anxiety and mental distress. Thus, at present, the mental and psychological problems of pregnant women in China cannot be underestimated.

In conclusion, the COVID-19 poses a huge challenge for pregnant women's mental health services. The Development and implementation of mental health service is urgent for this special population. It is also necessary for health professionals to promulgate guidelines for mental health service for pregnant women. What’s more, measures should be taken by the government, community and relevant departments to provide timely psychiatric service for pregnant women.

Conflicts of interest

None declared.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Liang-Nan Zeng: Writing - original draft. Li-Gang Chen: Writing - original draft. Chang-Mei Yang: . Li-Ping Zeng: . Li-Ying Zhang: . Tang-Ming Peng: Writing - review & editing.