U.S. scientists say pregnant women with COVID-19 are at higher risk for complications - like preterm delivery, preeclampsia and elevated blood pressure - when compared with those without the virus, a study has found.
Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the "Inter-COVID Multinational Cohort Study" monitored 2,130 pregnant women from 43 hospitals in 18 countries.
The findings in the survey conducted between April and August last year showed pregnant women with COVID-19 had a higher risk of serious outcomes, including infections, intensive care unit admissions - and even death. The risk for adverse disease was highest for those with diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.
Researchers found pregnant women had about twice the risk of their babies dying during pregnancy and are, themselves, 22 times more likely to die during pregnancy compared with those who don't have the virus.
"The No. 1 takeaway from the study is that pregnant women are no more likely to get COVID-19, but if they do, they're more likely to become very sick and more likely to require ICU care or experience preterm birth and preeclampsia," Dr. Michael Gravett said. Gravett, one of the study's lead authors, is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
In June 2020, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women in the U.S. found they had around a twofold risk of severe sickness.
"Pregnancy is a finite condition and delaying the vaccine would withhold clear benefit from pregnant individuals who face increasing risk with advancing gestational age," Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington, said.
Data released by the New England Journal of Medicine showed 14% of pregnant women who were given a COVID-19 vaccine had a pregnancy loss and less than 10% reported preterm delivery.
