Severe COVID-19 late in pregnancy increases risk of pre-term birth, stillbirths

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-24 16:01

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Women who contract severe COVID-19 late in their pregnancy are at heightened risk of pre-labor caesarean birth, a very or extreme preterm birth, stillborn birth, and the need for admission to a neonatal unit, according to international research. Using data from over 4000 pregnant women admitted to UK hospitals with COVID-19, the researchers say women who were older, overweight, of mixed ethnicity or had gestational diabetes were more likely to have a severe infection, with 13.9 per cent of cases within the group classified as severe. Among the 1761 participants with vaccine data available, 2.2 per cent had received at least one vaccine dose and just six vaccinated people had severe disease, which the researchers say indicates vaccination is a strong way to protect women and their babies from difficult births as a result of COVID-19.

Media release

From: Wiley

Does severe COVID-19 affect pregnancy outcomes?

New research published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica indicates that severe COVID-19 in pregnancy increases the risk of pre-labor caesarean birth, a very or extreme preterm birth, stillborn birth, and the need for admission to a neonatal unit.

The study included 4,436 pregnant women hospitalized in the UK with symptomatic COVID-19 from March 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021 (13.9% of whom had severe COVID-19). In addition to having increased risks of adverse pregnancy-related outcomes, women with severe infection were more likely to be aged ≥30 years, be overweight or obese, be of mixed ethnicity, or have gestational diabetes compared with those with mild or moderate infection.

“This new analysis shows that certain pregnant women admitted to a hospital with COVID-19 face an elevated risk of severe disease. However, it shows once again the strongly protective effect of vaccination against severe disease and adverse outcomes for both mother and baby,” said senior author Marian Knight, FMedSci, of the University of Oxford. “This study emphasizes the importance of ensuring that interventions to promote vaccine uptake are particularly focused towards those at highest risk.”

The study received funding from Wellbeing of Women and from the National Institute for Health Research.

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Journal/
conference: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Oxford, UK

Funder: The study was part funded by the National Institute for Health Research HS&DR Programme (project number 11/46/12) and part funded by Wellbeing of Women (grant reference RGC-19). M. K. is an NIHR Senior Investigator. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

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