Two scientific studies provide answers concerning the risks of complications in expectant mothers exposed to Covid during their pregnancy.
What are the consequences of Covid-19 during pregnancy?
According to a scientific study published on November 30, 2021 in the PLOS Medicine journal, a pregnant woman who is positive for the coronavirus would have more risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, than an unexposed future mother. To come to this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the data of nearly 245,000 births in France, between January and June 2020. The age of the pregnant woman, obesity, diabetes or even hypertension were taken into account. account in this study, as risk factors related to Covid. Thus, future mothers at least 22 weeks pregnant, positive for Covid-19 had, “compared to the non-covid group, a higher frequency ofadmission to intensive care unit (5.9% versus 0.1%), mortality (0.2% versus 0.005%), preeclampsia / eclampsia (4.8% versus 2.2%), gestational hypertension (2.3% vs. 1.3%), peripartum and postpartum hemorrhage (10.0% against 5.7%) “, say the scientists, who also note a higher number ofpremature or cesarean deliveries.
“These results suggest that pregnant women with Covid-19 may have an increased risk of obstetric morbidity compared to non-Covid-19 pregnant controls (…) Pregnancy is akin to a form of immunosuppression “, explains to Parisian Jade Ghosn, doctor-infectious disease specialist at Bichat hospital in Paris and co-author of the study. In addition, these results confirm the importance of vaccination in expectant mothers, which can be “useful in protecting women from excess obstetric risk”.
Pregnancy and Covid: no consequence on the fetal brain
A second study of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), also published on November 30, specifies that “no evidence “shows that infection in pregnant women has” an effect on the development of the brain “of the unborn baby. German researchers analyzed fetal MRIs of 33 expectant mothers with Covid, at 28 weeks gestation on average. The results show that the fetal brain development is comparable to other unborn babies, whose mothers-to-be were not infected. Something to reassure parents affected by the epidemic during pregnancy. The authors of the study also specify that they will follow children up to the age of 5 in order to assess their neurological development in more detail. It should also be noted that only expectant mothers with moderate symptoms were included in the study.
“Since the impact of severe infection on fetal brain development has not been conclusively determined, active protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy remains important. (…) Vaccination is the most promising protection against Covid-19 so far. All potential side effects are manageable, even in pregnant women. Therefore, despite the encouraging results of our study, women pregnant women should seriously consider vaccination, ”concludes Sophia Stoecklein, chief medical officer of the radiology department at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich.