Risk Perception and Protective Behaviours Regarding COVID-19 Among Pregnant People in Sweden

Abstract

Few have been left unaffected by the outbreak and consequent impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. One group of people, namely those pregnant during the pandemic, faced a unique set of circumstances that this research has aimed to understand. The purpose of this research was to contribute to filling the knowledge gap by delving into the risk perception and protective behaviours adapted by pregnant people in Sweden in relation to Covid-19. This qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour by Icek Ajzen, with members of the target group. A link between the risk perception of the participants and the protective behaviours they adhered to was found. It appeared that a favourable attitude towards recommendations from the authorities, favourable subjective norms in the social circle and a realistic level of perceived behavioural control formed a risk perception that in turn led to a protective performative behaviour. This result aligns with the reasoning of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The enabling environment surrounding the participant as well as the arguably poorly communicated information directed at pregnant people during the pandemic were also found to have had part in determining the perceived risks and performed behaviour. Similarly, the unique conditions of pregnancy, being that it lasts for a limited time and has a clear end goal, also appeared to be an important factor. The influence of this range of factors points towards the complexity of human behaviour, which have become even more apparent due to the pandemic.

Popular Abstract

Many pregnant people have perceived themselves to be at heightened risk of Covid-19 but their main worries include giving birth during a pandemic, including the uncertainty of whether or not their partner can be present at childbirth.

The Covid-19 pandemic has required people around the world to change their behaviours to stop the spread of the virus. It is important to understand how and why people change their behaviours, to improve the response and communication around risks. Pregnant people have been a particularly interesting group during this pandemic, since there has been uncertainty about in what ways the pandemic affects their health and conditions as pregnant. In this research, the purpose was therefore to understand the experiences of pregnant people during the pandemic, with focus on the risks they perceived caused by Covid-19 and which behaviours they changed to protect themselves from catching the virus. The Swedish Public Health Agency has stated pregnancy as a risk factor for becoming seriously affected by Covid-19. However, this research found that some pregnant people were unsure about what this actually meant. Many research participants thought there was a large lack of information on how they should behave as pregnant during the pandemic. In addition, as pregnancy classes and other informational events were cancelled, many felt that they did not receive the support they had expected as pregnant. This suggests a need to pay more attention to support and inform pregnant people during unexpected crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The majority of pregnant people in this study were the most worried about how the pandemic could affect their childbirth experience. Many also struggled with the fact that their partners could not join the routine checks. If the partner would be ill or have any Covid-19 symptoms by the time the baby was on its way, they would not be allowed to be present during the birth, which was an upsetting thought for many participants. To remain healthy ahead of childbirth was therefore a main source of motivation for many in regards to how much they complied with the recommendations. The majority of the participants were planning to or had already begun to completely isolate for the last few weeks before the due date. The exclusion of the partner during the checkups was also a worry for some as they wondered if this might affect the connection between the partner and the baby in the future, which is an important area for further research.

This research has been based on interviews with 15 pregnant women across Sweden, during the early spring of 2021. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was used as a theoretical framework to analyse the risk perception and behaviours among the pregnant participants. The results mentioned here and further elaborated in the thesis have brought insights into the experience of being pregnant in a pandemic and can thus be deemed important for the current pandemic as well as future research.

• author: Gummesson, Emelie and Sällman, Ellen
• supervisor: Misse Wester
• organization: Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
• course: VBRM15 20211
• year: 2021
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: Risk perception, protective behaviour, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Covid-19, pregnancy, Sweden
• language: English
• id: 9052213
• date added to LUP: 2021-06-15 16:42:16
• date last changed: 2021-06-15 16:42:16