Being infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy and presenting symptoms could put you at higher risk of emergency complications during childbirth, as well as an increased chance that the baby will require extra oxygen or be admitted to the care unit neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), compared to asymptomatic pregnant women with COVID-19.
The research has been part of a presentation made at the 2021 Anesthesiology annual meeting, and it analyzed 101 women between the ages of 16 and 45 who had given birth between March and September 2020 in Texas. In patients with symptoms, 42% had fever, 39% cough, 26% shortness of breath, 16% muscle pain, 16% chills, and 10% chest pain.
The results indicated that 58.1% of those who had the coronavirus with these symptoms had a delivery with emergency circumstances, such as a baby in the breech position, reduced fetal movement, very little amniotic fluid, or slowing or stopping of labor progress. . This figure dropped to 46.5% in the case of asymptomatic women.
Higher risk of cesarean delivery in symptomatic women
In addition, they found that infants of pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 were more likely to require respiratory support and to require admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. On the other hand, one of the babies in the symptomatic group had a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, which could imply vertical mother-child transmission.
58.1% of pregnant women with symptomatic COVID had a delivery with complications such as a breech baby, reduced fetal movement, or too little amniotic fluid
Finally, the authors have highlighted the increased risk of cesarean delivery, which was 64.5% in symptomatic pregnant women and 62% in asymptomatic women. This is of particular concern to the researchers, since it doubles the rates of the population that require this type of delivery, which in the United States is 31.7%.
“COVID-19 has serious systemic effects on the body, especially in symptomatic patients. It is possible that these effects are amplified in pregnant mothers, who have higher fetal and maternal oxygen demands. Decreased oxygenation could contribute to the increase in cesarean deliveries, as well as the possibility that physicians caring for patients are wary of the unpredictable nature of the virus, thus proactively recommending a cesarean delivery for deliveries. medium to high risk,” explains Kristine Lane, lead author of the research.
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