Pregnant Women With COVID-19 Face High Mortality Rate: Study

Pregnant Women With Covid-19: In a new worldwide study done by researchers José Villar, Shabina Ariff and Robert B. Gunier, it has been found that pregnant women who have contracted the COVID-19 virus during their pregnancy were 20 times more likely to die than those women who did not contract the virus.

The findings of the study were published on April 22 in the "JAMA Pediatrics" journal and was led by University of Oxford doctors and UW Medicine.

JAMA Pediatrics shared the findings of the research on April 22 on Twitter.

18 country study in >2000 pregnant women with and without #COVID19 shows higher complication and death rates in symptomatic, but not asymptomatic, women with COVID-19. Their babies were at greater risk of neonatal complications, mainly due to preterm birth https://t.co/mRl8OOIMsz

— JAMA Pediatrics (@JAMAPediatrics) April 22, 2021

The study was done on 2,100 pregnant women worldwide to determine the extent of risks of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnancy in women with and without COVID-19.

The INTERCOVID Multinational Cohort Study took place from March to October 2020 which involved a total of 18 countries, 43 institutions. After every infected woman who was identified, 2 unmatched or non-infected women were enrolled immediately to the study who were at any stage of pregnancy. One COVID-19 infected pregnant woman was compared with two women who were not diagnosed with COVID-19.

In the multinational cohort study that was done, women from a total of 18 countries with COVID-19 diagnosis were found to be at an increased risk of maternal morbidity (physical/mental illness or disability related to pregnancy) and mortality index (observed to expected mortality rates).

The study also finds out that pregnant individuals who were diagnosed with the virus had a high level of adversities like maternal mortality and preeclampsia, which is a complication during pregnancy leading to high blood pressure, and signs of damage to any organ system, more often on the kidney and liver.

Another adversity seen in pregnant women with COVID-19 was preterm birth compared to ones without the diagnosis. The study found that out of the mothers who were tested positive for the virus, 11.5 per cent of their babies also tested positive.

Dr Michael Gravett, who is a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Washington School of Medicine said that even though pregnant women are no more likely to get COVID-19, but if they do contract the virus, they are more likely to become ill and require intensive care.

He also recommended that all pregnant women should take the COVID-19 vaccines. However, currently available vaccines in India are not permitted for pregnant women as not enough clinical trials have been done to establish safety. India also recommends a wait for 3 months for a pregnancy after COVID-19 vaccination.