Pregnant women with Covid are 8 times more likely to die than those who are not infected

by

Pregnant women with Covid-19 are at greater risk for a variety of complications associated with the disease compared to pregnant women without the infection, new research indicates. Need for ventilation, pneumonia and even maternal death are some examples of the most common problems in pregnant women with Covid.

In addition to pregnant women, the survey also measured the effect that the disease has on babies, as in cases where they need to be admitted to ICUs shortly after birth.

The research is a meta-analysis – that is, the authors used data already published in other studies – and was published this Monday (16) in the journal BMJ Global Health. In total, 12 previously published surveys, each with data from different regions, comprised the analysis, totaling more than 13,000 pregnant women.

The information is from 12 different countries – including those in sub-Saharan Africa, something rare for surveys of this type.

According to the authors, studies had already been done on the association between Covid-19 and pregnancy, but with a significant discrepancy between them. The article tried to compile surveys that show a similar pattern and seeks to cover data from different regions of the planet.

The pregnant women who participated in the study were divided into two groups: one composed of those who had Covid-19 during pregnancy or within seven days after delivery; and another of women who took tests for the detection of Covid-19 during pregnancy, but had negative results.

The comparison between the two groups showed the highest risks that participants with Covid-19 and their newborns had during pregnancy and shortly after delivery for different outcomes – in total there were 30.

One of these cases is in relation to deaths. The research observed, for example, that pregnant women infected with Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, had an almost eight times greater risk of maternal death compared to pregnant women who did not have the infection.

But the greatest risk was seen in the case of pneumonia. The authors saw that, among pregnant women with Covid, lung inflammation had a 23 times greater risk of appearing when compared to those without the infection. Just below comes the need to undergo ventilation, with a risk approximately 15 times higher.

The article also looked at outcomes in relation to babies. The need to admit a newborn to a neonatal ICU was almost twice as high among children of pregnant women who tested positive for Covid-19. Prematurity was another problem found in the survey.

On the other hand, cases of stillbirths and the difficulty of fetuses developing in the womb did not have a significant difference between pregnant women who had Covid and those without a record of the infection. In addition, the rates of complications in babies are lower than in mothers alone.

For the authors, the data reveal that, first of all, it is necessary to improve the levels of protection against the coronavirus during pregnancy. “These findings underscore the need for global efforts to prevent COVID-19 during pregnancy through the administration of vaccines and non-pharmaceutical interventions,” the authors write.

In addition, the researchers point out the importance of thinking about the appropriate treatment of this public. “More efforts are needed to advance our understanding of the best treatment strategies and clinical management for pregnant women infected with Sars-CoV-2 and their newborns,” the scientists conclude in the article.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you