COVID-19: Pregnant women at increased risk of hospitalizations and pre-term births, UBC study says


There’s also a link between COVID-19 infection and the risk of pre-term birth, even in mild cases that do not require hospitalization.

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People who catch COVID-19 during pregnancy were at increased risk of complications that could affect their pregnancy and the health of the baby, a newly published national study found.

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The study by researchers at the University of BC examined 6,012 pregnancies between March 2020 and October 2021 where the mother-to-be had COVID and found these pregnancies to be at increased risk of complications resulting in higher rates of hospitalization, intensive-care admission and pre-term births.

“It’s a reminder that this is not a trivial infection for pregnant women,” said UBC obstetrics and gynecology Prof. Dr. Deborah Money.

Money launched the CANCOVID-Preg surveillance research program with other Canadian researchers in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic and in a vacuum of information on the impact of the novel coronavirus on pregnancy.

The study, published Monday in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association, found that out of the 6,012 pregnancies, 466 cases, or nearly eight per cent, required hospitalization, while 121 cases, or two per cent, were severe enough to require admission to intensive care.

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That means people who are pregnant are nearly three times more likely to require hospitalization and about five times more likely to be admitted to ICU than non-pregnant people. The risk increased with age, pre-existing high blood pressure and how far along the women were in their pregnancy at the time of diagnosis.

Researchers also found a link between COVID infection and the risk of pre-term birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, even in mild cases that don’t require hospitalization. The rate of pre-term birth was 11 per cent among pregnancies with COVID compared with 6.8 per cent among unaffected pregnancies.

The findings suggest pregnant women should be vigilant even as public health restrictions ease, “even more so,” said Money.

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“As we are increasing our social interactions, as we’re accepting this virus to be part of regular viruses in the community, then it’s absolutely critical to be protected by the vaccine so that one doesn’t get serious disease.”

The authors noted the study analyzed cases from previous waves before the identification of the Omicron variant in Canada.

Money said it isn’t yet known whether findings would be similar for Omicron infections but believes the more-transmissible variant will continue to pose a risk for pregnant people: “Looking at the way Omicron has behaved in unvaccinated individuals, it is still causing serious disease.”

The surveillance study is continuing, and researchers are planning several follow-up studies, including looking at outcomes from the Omicron wave and studying infants born to mothers with COVID to examine any short- and long-term effects on the babies.

[email protected]

twitter.com/cherylchan

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