WEDNESDAY, February 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) – In this pandemic, expectant mothers are understandably concerned about the risks COVID-19 could pose to their baby. A new study offers some answers.
Pregnant women with COVID-19 may be more likely to have a premature birth. However, researchers have found that they are not at increased risk of stillbirth or baby death soon after birth.
“To find that COVID-19 infection does not increase the risk of stillbirth or child death is comforting. However, a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 was associated with a higher risk of premature birth, and it’s not quite clear why. “said the study co-author, Dr. Christoph Lees, in a press release from Imperial College London. He is a professor of obstetrics in the college.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 4,000 pregnant women in the U.S. and the United Kingdom who suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and gave birth between January and August 2020.
Most women did not have pre-existing health problems such as diabetes or respiratory diseases such as asthma.
None of the female babies died from COVID-19, and the women did not have above-average stillbirth rates or babies with low birth weights, according to the study.
However, they had an increased likelihood of premature birth, that is, birth before 37 weeks.
The premature birth rate among US women was nearly 16%, which is 57% above the national average of 10%. For British women, the rate was 12%, 60% above the national average of 7.5%.
Here’s a possible reason for the higher premature birth rates among women with COVID-19: Doctors may have given babies earlier because of concerns about how the infection would affect mothers and infants, the researchers said. They found that the rate of spontaneous premature births in the study was lower than expected.
The study supports vaccination efforts against COVID-19, said study co-author Ed Mullins.
“This study supports the prioritization of vaccination for pregnant women or women trying to conceive, as well as existing measures to protect women during pregnancy from infection in order to reduce premature births,” said Mullins, lecturer in the College of Metabolism Department, digestion and reproduction.
The results were recently published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
More information
For more information on COVID-19 and pregnancy, please contact the World Health Organization.
SOURCE: Imperial College London, press release, February 23, 2021
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