Study suggests COVID-19 heightens risks for pregnant women | News, Sports, Jobs

Charles Krupa, Associated Press

In this May 7, 2020, file photo, a pregnant woman wearing a face mask and gloves holds her belly as she waits in line for groceries at St. Mary’s Church in Waltham, Mass. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all pregnant women Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, to get the COVID-19 vaccine as hospitals in hot spots around the US see disturbingly high numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus.

SALT LAKE CITY — Women infected with the coronavirus during pregnancy are nearly 40% more likely to suffer critical complications or die compared to those not infected with the virus.

Those findings, published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, come from a nationwide study led by University of Utah Health obstetrician Dr. Tori Metz.

During a press conference Monday, Metz said it’s already known pregnant women are at higher risk for COVID-19 complications. However, the research, which included 17 US hospitals and 14,000 patients, is among the first to find that infection with the virus can elevate the risk of serious consequences related to common pregnancy problems, such as high blood pressure, post-partum bleeding or having another infection other than the virus.

“We’re not talking about a small subset,” Metz said. “We are talking about things we see pretty commonly as obstetricians and we found these common things led to serious complications requiring a higher level of care and different interventions in those individuals who were infected with the virus. ”

The study, conducted between March 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, found pregnant women who had moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms that required supplemental oxygen or treatment in the intensive care unit were three times more likely to have serious pregnancy complications .

“The majority of those with increased risk were those who had moderate or worse COVID-19,” Metz said. “Even though the study was done in 2020, it does give us a look at how these complications progressed and continue to progress during the pandemic. ”

Metz said she was surprised to see patients who were at higher risk for complications went on to develop such critical outcomes, especially when the US health system has the ability to mitigate any increased risks.

“It’s unclear why these patients progressed to a more serious level of sickness,” she said. “We need addition studies and we need to do studies on how these complications will affect mothers and their offspring long term.”

Metz said the study proves the importance of vaccination.

“Vaccination rates among pregnant women remain low,” she said. “The No. 1 way to prevent this is vaccination and this data can provide another talking point for health care workers talking to their patients about vaccine hesitancy.”

During the study, five deaths were reported, although Metz said it was unclear whether or not those deaths could be attributed directly to COVID-19. The five women who died had tested positive for the virus.

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