May 2, 2024

COVID-19 Infection Increases Complications in Pregnancy and Birth

Pregnant women with COVID-19 are most likely to have issues with pregnancy and birth compared to those without, according to research publishing today (November 30th, 2021) in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine. The study looks at hospitalization for births in France throughout the first six months of the pandemic and recommends that vaccination may be beneficial to safeguard women and their children, particularly for females at a higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 infections.
Few research studies have actually taken a look at associations in between COVID-19 and pregnancy results, particularly during the first wave in early 2020. Sylvie Epelboin and associates from the Universite de Paris examined data for hospitalizations for birth after 22 weeks pregnancy in France between January and June 2020. Until 15 March, all confirmed cases of COVID were hospitalized but after this health center admission was based upon the medical condition of the client. Of 244,465 births in healthcare facility, 874 or 0.36% of moms had been detected with COVID-19.

Ladies in the COVID-19 group were most likely to be older, have obesity, be carrying more than one baby, or have a history of high blood pressure compared to those without. The women with COVID-19 had a higher frequency of admission to ICU; death; preeclampsia and eclampsia; gestational high blood pressure; hemorrhage either before or after birth; very premature spontaneous or induced birth; and cesarean section. Rates of pregnancy terminations, stillbirths, gestational diabetes, placenta previa, placental abruption, and embolism were not increased.
Knowing these issues is necessary for health care service providers to support pregnant women and offer the very best care. The authors think that although causality can not be established in this research study, vaccination to secure pregnant ladies from COVID-19 might be useful, particularly for those in greater danger groups.
The authors add, “We carried out a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data in a national friend of all hospitalizations for births ≥ 22 weeks of pregnancy taking place in France from January to June 2020 utilizing the French National hospitalization database, including a total of 244645 births, of which 874 (0.36%) with COVID-19 medical diagnosis. When compared to the non-COVID-19 group, women in the COVID-19 group were associated to an increased frequency of admission to ICU, mortality, preeclampsia/eclampsia, gestational hypertension, postpartum hemorrhage, spontaneous and induced preterm and extremely preterm birth, fetal distress and Cesarean area.”
Reference: “Obstetrical results and maternal morbidities connected with COVID-19 in pregnant females in France: A nationwide retrospective accomplice research study” by Epelboin S, Labrosse J, De Mouzon J, Fauque P, Gervoise-Boyer M-J, Levy R, et al., 30 November 2021, PLOS Medicine.DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pmed.1003857.