According to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women who are infected with coronavirus and hospitalized are at risk of serious complications, and they may be at risk of delivering their babies prematurely. They may also be at greater risk of losing a pregnancy or having a stillbirth.
The troubling findings are consistent with some previous reports that pregnant women are at increased risk of serious illness when they become infected with the new coronavirus. But some experts warn that the findings, obtained from a relatively small number of patients, including many hospitalized due to Covid-19, may not be representative of all pregnant women infected.
Studies have found that many hospitalized pregnant women who are infected with the virus have no symptoms. Among those who had symptoms, between 16 and 30 percent needed intensive care, and 6 percent to 8.5 percent needed a ventilator to help with breathing. Three women died in the 703 cases described in the two reports.
Both studies found that pregnant women infected with the coronavirus experienced a higher rate of preterm delivery than expected, and some were still born. Previous studies have also suggested a higher risk for premature births, and a British study noted a wider population of postnatal births during an epidemic.
Pregnancy can make women more vulnerable to infection and serious illness for many reasons. The immune system is suppressed during pregnancy, it is a response designed to prevent adverse reactions to the fetus but also increases the mother’s susceptibility to viral infections.
Other physical changes during pregnancy can also increase a woman’s vulnerability. The lungs can be affected by uterine enlargement, and the cardiovascular system is working hard. Covid-19 can also increase the risk of blood clots, and little is known about the effects on the placenta, which nourishes the fetus.
A member of the Covid-1119 Task Force of the American College of Bs. “We now have data from three different CDC surveillance systems that suggest that pregnant women may be at increased risk for serious disease from Covid-1,” said Dennis Jamieson. And the gynecologists, said in an email.
Dr. Peter, director of the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. “Taking the message home is that pregnant women can get seriously ill,” said Peter Bernstein. “We don’t know for sure that they would get sick even if they weren’t pregnant, but really there are women who are getting very sick and dying.”
Although experts said more research is needed to clarify these links, they urged pregnant women to be conscious about wearing masks and social distance to reduce the risk of infection, especially if they have conditions such as health problems or obesity. Some called on all pregnant women to be tested for coronavirus, regardless of whether they had symptoms.
Dr. Neil Shah, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard University, said pregnant women should be given priority for testing, and he asked employers to take additional measures to protect them from the virus while working.
“If there is a call for action, it is that employers need to take care of their pregnant people, especially if they are approaching a period, and do everything possible to avoid exposing them – to make them work virtually. They need time and space to approve or grant.
But he said the study, which provides a “signal” that requires further investigation, is not certain.
CDC medical pathologist and senior author of a study. Shikha Garg said an important finding was that many pregnant women who did not have symptoms of Covid-19 were infected with the virus.
“We are still learning how Covid-19 can affect pregnant women and their newborns.” “If testing policies only focus on therapeutic women, we may miss asymptomatic issues.”
The new reports come from two different CDC surveillance systems.
One study found 59 88 pregnant women of Kovid-18 who were hospitalized in 13 states from March 1 to August 22. Like most pregnant women, they were mediocre – 0 years old – but one in five had severe health problems, usually asthma or hypertension. About 42 percent were Hispanic and 26.5 percent were black.
More than half of these women were asymmetrical when they were admitted to the hospital, for various reasons. Of the 272 pregnant women with symptoms, 16 percent require intensive care, and 8.5 percent need a ventilator to help them breathe. Two women were killed.
Of the full group of 888 women in the study, 8,458 completed their pregnancies during hospitalization, and 8,448 gave birth live. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic women had premature birth and pregnancy loss, although early births affected approximately 25 percent of pathological women, compared to only percent percent of asymptomatic women. Ten women, or 2.8 percent, had some characteristic and some had no, miscarriage or stillbirth.
(The national rate of premature births has been 10 percent in recent years, and one in 160 pregnancies results in a miscarriage, according to the CDC)
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Another CDC report looked at 105 pregnant women admitted to the hospital between March 1 and May 30 who were infected with the virus, most of whom were admitted for pregnancy-related reasons or because they were in labor. His average age was also 30 years. Most were asymptomatic, and more than half were Hispanic.
Among those hospitalized for Covid-19, obesity and gestational diabetes rates were higher than those admitted for other reasons. About 30 percent of those hospitalized with covid need intensive care and 14 percent need a ventilator. One woman died.
Of the women who delivered their babies, 15 percent gave birth prematurely and 3 percent gave birth at birth. The data set used in this study had higher rates than those seen in pregnant women in the included population, called the Vaccine Safety Datalink.
“The number was low, and we didn’t have controls for KFinders like the previous history of pregnancy – did they have a pregnancy loss in the past, or are there other medical conditions associated with the pregnancy that put them at risk?” Dr. Lakshmi Panagiyotokoplos, CDC medical pathologist and lead author of the small study. “More research is needed to understand the effects.”
