Pregnant Women with Covid-19 at Higher Risk of Premature Birth

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Pregnant women with Covid-19 are at even greater risk of premature birth and of being admitted to an intensive care unit, compared to healthy pregnant women of the same age, according to a study by European and Chinese scientists published in the BMJ, and reported in an article published in Galileo magazine.

The researchers completed a meta-analysis, focusing on 77 articles that described rates, clinical situations – symptoms, laboratory and radiological results – risk factors, and results for 11,432 pregnant women, postpartum women (recent mothers), and non-pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 or suspected of infection.

Compared to non-pregnant women in their reproductive age, recent mothers and pregnant women with Covid-19 were less likely to experience symptoms but presented a higher probability of requiring intensive care hospitalization and the use of ventilators to help them breathe.

Additionally, according to Galileo, the researchers determined that the risk factors for severe Covid-19 cases in pregnant women and new mothers increase with age. These factors were mainly body mass index, chronic hypertension, and diabetes.

Furthermore, the researchers detected that the probability of premature birth was significantly higher in pregnant women infected with the virus than those who had tested negative.

According to academics, one-quarter of babies born from mothers with Covid-19 required hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit. This was higher than newborns from healthy women.

However, on a more positive note, stillborn birth rates were negligible.

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