The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Postpartum Maternal Mental Health.

New mothers responded to the pandemic with less mental health impairment than expected, differently from the general population. Women delivering amidst the pandemic did not differ in depressive and anxiety symptoms from their pre-pandemic scores and from pre-pandemic women. Because stress responses have high energy costs, it is optimal for maternal animals to minimize such high metabolic costs during motherhood. Evidence suggests that reproductive experience alters the female brain in adaptive ways. This maternal brain plasticity facilitates a higher purpose, the continuation of the species. This may point to the recruitment of motherhood-related resources, for potentially overcoming the effects of the pandemic on mental health.