Coronavirus: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Menstruation, COVID-19: Answered your question

The Toronto-Pandemic has been a stressful time for everyone, but it’s especially worrisome for those who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. It’s no wonder there’s a lot of confusion as new data and research on COVID-19 and vaccines to prevent it are released daily.

From pregnancy risk to menstrual changes, birth expert Dr. Marjorie Dixon, founder of Toronto’s Anova Fertility and Reproductive Health, distinguishes facts from fiction regarding reproductive health in the age of COVID-19. I will.

What is the risk of COVID-19 for pregnant people?

According to Dixon, pregnant people are at increased risk of serious complications, hospitalization, and even death from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant, age-matched people.

“If you’re pregnant with a woman, you’re at increased risk of serious exacerbations, hospitalization, intubation, and death from the coronavirus,” she told CTV Your Morning on Wednesday.

According to recent research Published in the journal JAMA PediatricsPregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 were at increased risk of preeclampsia, infections, hospitalization in the intensive care unit, and death.

The study found that these women with COVID-19 had a 1.6% risk of death, 22 times higher than pregnant women without the disease.

Does vaccination affect childbirth?

Dixon emphasized that there is no evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 vaccine affects childbirth. She said this false information began to spread after blog posts from someone in the scientific community gained momentum online.

In the post, the authors write that the vaccine targets specific peplomer of the virus that causes SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19. this is true. However, according to Dixon, the author of the blog post claims that there are placental adhesions, so the way the placenta enters the uterus and adheres to the uterus to feed the pregnancy is an amino acid similar to peplomer. According to a blog post, it meant that the vaccines and antibodies produced by the body to fight COVID-19 could theoretically attack these placental proteins.

“That’s fake news. It’s not real,” she said. “It’s spread throughout the internet, and patients are asking non-stop questions about it. I think it’s very important to make it clear that it’s not real information.”

Is also claimed Uncovered by several medical societies In the world.

Dixon added that through the pandemic, birthers like herself are unaware of the decline in pregnancy rates.

Should pregnant people be vaccinated?

Pregnant people are at increased risk of serious complications and death from COVID-19, so Dixon urged them to be vaccinated.

“If you are planning a pregnancy, if you are pregnant, if I am pregnant, I will be vaccinated,” she said.

In fact, Dixon added that pregnant people should prioritize vaccination earlier than other groups because of the high risk.

She also said that the benefits of the vaccine extend to the foetation as the body-produced antibodies pass through the placenta and protect the foetation from COVID-19. In addition, she said, these antibodies can also be passed on to the baby during breastfeeding after childbirth.

Is the menstrual cycle affected by a pandemic?

was there Case report From those who claim to have witnessed changes in the menstrual cycle during the pandemic. Dixon said there isn’t much science to support why this is happening to some people, but stress can be a factor.

“Our brain has a grand central control that actually sends a message and tells the endocrine system how to raise and ovulate an egg,” she said. “Women actually refer to stressful times. For example, when women in law schools, medical schools, etc. are taking exams, the stressful times of life actually end.”

Some people have also reported changes in the menstrual cycle after vaccination, but Dixon said this could be just a reporting bias.

“When you’re vaccinated, or when you’re asked to remember when something happened, you may not remember exactly what actually happened, or exactly as it happened,” she said. It was. “We may be looking at your period. You may have had irregular periods before you were vaccinated, and you are not really aware of it.”

There may be another explanation, but Dixon said there was no evidence that the vaccine actually affected physiology at this stage.

“It may be correlated, but not causal,” she said.