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Background: To control the spread of COVID‐19, Iran has adopted rigorous precautionary and preventive measures, particularly for vulnerable groups. Considering the effects of knowledge and attitudes about COVID‐19 on adherence to preventive measures, we examined women's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) from pregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum about COVID‐19 during this pandemic. Methods: In a cross‐sectional study, 7363 women were recruited via an online questionnaire between June 23, 2021 and July 7, 2021. The questionnaire consisted of 27 questions, measuring KAP. Results: Most of the participants had a good understanding of COVID‐19 (Mean: 7.30 out of 9, standard deviation [SD]: 1.27), but the knowledge of the disease's main symptoms and modes of transmission was at the lowest levels. The mean attitudes score was 31.47 out of 50 (SD: 7.70). The participants had good practices against COVID‐19 with a mean score of 35.48 out of 40 (SD: 3.94). To reduce anxiety and fear during the pandemic, half of our participants strongly emphasized the role of family emotional support. Income status and educational levels were the most significant variables influencing KAP (p‐value ≤0.001). A correlation was found between knowledge and practice scores (r = 0.205, p‐value = 0.001). Conclusion: Our findings may serve to formulate awareness‐raising interventions and can be a guide to health policymakers and workers such as obstetricians, clinicians, and midwives for more effective educational communication emphasizing the COVID‐19 symptoms and transmission modes and rendering appropriate counseling, particularly on the importance of emotional family support during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The newly emerging COVID-19 has caused severe anxiety around the world and it is infecting more people each day since there is no preventive measure or definite therapy for the diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate its effect on anxiety and stress of pregnant mothers during perinatal care. Methods: Three–hundred pregnant mothers without COVID–19 infection who were referred to the hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences for delivery during April 2020, based on negative clinical symptoms and the results of polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) for COVID–19, were recruited by census method and asked to complete the Persian version of the perceived stress scale (PSS); participants views about their anxiety level and the role of COVID–19 as the source of their stress and worries were recorded. Women who refused to continue the study were excluded. The frequency of variables and mean scores were calculated using SPSS v. 21. Results: Mean age of mothers was 30.20±16.19 years; 31.3% were primigravida and mean gestational age was 38.00±4.14 weeks. Moreover, 16.3% asked for earlier pregnancy termination and 39% requested Cesarean section (C/S). Assessing the mothers’ anxiety revealed a high/very high level of anxiety in 51.3%. The majority felt worried and frustrated because of COVID–19 (86.4%). Social media had a great impact on the level of stress among these mothers (60.3%). Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic is an important source for the increased anxiety and stress among healthy pregnant mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]