Aussie study to examine impacts of COVID-19, bushfires on new parents

Canberra (Australia), October 26: A new Australian study will examine the impacts the Black Summer bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic have had on young families.
The study, to be undertaken by researchers from Australian National University (ANU), will focus on the partners of women who were pregnant or gave birth between November 2019 and December 2020.
It follows the research team's Mother and Child 2020 (MC2020) study, which focused on how the 2019/20 bushfires and COVID-19 impacted pregnant mothers and their babies.
Amy Dawel, a co-leader of the study from the ANU Research School of Psychology, said there has been little research done into the health and wellbeing of partners of new mothers in times of crisis.
"During our initial study many mothers spontaneously mentioned how important their partner was during the bushfire and pandemic crises," she said in a media release.
"We hope our survey will give some insight into how couples can support each other during times of high stress, and also what wider support would be most helpful for families."
Participants in the survey will be asked about their wellbeing, their experiences of parenthood and the impacts on their relationship.
Previous studies have proven that extreme events including natural disasters and pandemics impact pregnancy outcomes, child development and family wellbeing.
However, the ANU team said until now research has not followed families beyond the crisis.
They have encouraged the partners of the MC2020 mothers to participate in the new research in order to gather a complete picture of the impacts.
"As natural disasters increase in frequency due to climate change, more research to identify the impact on families is critical," co-leader Amita Bansal said.
"This study will give us a clearer picture of how family dynamics impacted children's emotional and social behaviour in the wake of the bushfires and COVID-19."
Source: Xinhua