Pregnancy in COVID-19: What are the Risks?

Is the infection more dangerous for the mother and her baby?

What are the risks of mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy?

Indira IVF will answer all your questions regarding “Pregnancy in COVID-19” in this blog.

Pregnancy in COVID-19: Are pregnant women more at risk of coronavirus?

Pregnant women are expected to follow these prevention recommendations to avoid infections with the greatest attention-

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds,

• Avoid contact with sick people,

• Do not touch your face,

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or elbow when you sneeze,

• Clean your room and everyday objects,

• Avoid close contact and busy places etc.

Corona virus and Pregnancy: Are pregnant women more at risk of complications from coronavirus?

Again, few studies can provide a clear answer on the consequences of corona virus during pregnancy for the mother and her baby; however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US published a report in November 2020 regarding Corona virus and Pregnancy. According to the study which was carried out on 409,000 women, including 23,500 pregnant, the latter were 3 times more likely to develop serious forms of the infection (hospitalization and placement on ventilators) and 25% were at risk of giving birth prematurely.

On the other hand, a study led by researchers at the University of Birmingham, published on September 1 in the British medical journal (BMJ) tells us a little more about the symptoms of Covid on pregnant women. The work reveals that the most common clinical manifestations were fever for 40% and cough for 39% of them. However, the researchers found that pregnant women were less likely than non-pregnant women to report symptoms of fever and muscle pain. They were, however, more at risk of needing admission to an intensive care unit if they developed a severe form of the disease, and at greater risk of giving birth prematurely. In addition, premature births were high: “A quarter of all newborns born to mothers with covid-19 were admitted to the neonatal unit, ” the study said.

It is also being learned that pregnant women with advanced age, high body mass index, chronic hypertension and pre-existing diabetes are more at risk of a severe form of covid-19 during pregnancy.

In April 2021, another international study published in JAMA Pediatrics, which brought together around 100 researchers from 43 hospitals in 18 countries and in which 2,100 pregnant women participated, concluded that infected women are 50% more likely to have complications during pregnancy such as premature labor, preeclampsia (high blood pressure) or admission to the intensive care unit.

Pregnancy in Pandemic: Can the virus be transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy?

Transmission of coronavirus occurs primarily through close contact with an infected person through respiratory droplets. Little is known about the possible transmission of infection from mother to fetus or newborn by “vertical transmission” (before, during or after childbirth).

Regarding other coronavirus infections (MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV), data is limited but no vertical transmission has been reported. There are, however, a few reported cases of newborns testing positive for COVID-19, but none have undergone a full medical evaluation, so it is not known for sure how the infection occurred. An American study carried out on 4,500 pregnant women between the end of March and mid-October, published by the CDC in early November 2020 found 2.6% of infants positive for COVID-19, most of them having a mother who tested positive a week before their birth.

On July 14, 2020, French doctors reported the first case of confirmation of intrauterine contamination. The author of the study reported in the journal Nature Communications, said: “We have shown that transmission from mother to fetus is possible via the placenta in the last few weeks of pregnancy and to add, he said- The bad news is that it can happen but the good news is that it is rare -very rare. The child presented severe symptoms at birth: stiffness of the limbs and lesions of the cerebral nervous system which eventually disappeared even before the doctors decided on the right choice of treatment to administer to the infant.

What are the risks for the baby during Pregnancy in Pandemic?

To date, the risks to the infant in the short and long term are not known with certainty. According to one of the studies, some children had specific symptoms (respiratory distress, cyanosis, gastric bleeding and death), but none had tested positive for infection. Keeping the child with a sick mother does not appear to be recommended.

In addition, data for other respiratory viral infections during pregnancy have reported effects including low birth weight and premature delivery. Plus, having a cold or flu with high fever early in pregnancy may increase the risk of certain birth defects.