COVID-19 linked to serious health complications during pregnancy

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942595

 

 News Release 7-Feb-2022
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of Utah Health

 

Pregnant individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are about 40% more likely to develop serious complications or die during pregnancy than those who aren’t infected with the virus, according to a nationwide study led by a University of Utah Health obstetrician. 

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“We already knew that pregnant people are at higher risk for the complications of COVID-19 itself,” says Torri D. Metz, MD, MS, a maternal-fetal medicine  specialist and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at U of U Health who led the multi-center effort. “Our research is among the first to find that infection with SARS-CoV-2 can elevate the risk of serious consequences related to progression of common pregnancy complications such as developing high blood pressure, having postpartum bleeding, or acquiring an infection other than SARS. This is why we need to make sure pregnant individuals are vaccinated.”

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Compared to those who had mild (flu-like) symptoms or were asymptomatic, pregnant individuals who had moderate or severe symptoms, requiring treatment with supplemental oxygen or ICU care, were about three times (26.1% vs. 9.2%) more likely to have serious pregnancy complications.

These problems included eclampsia, severe high blood pressure, kidney failure and other end organ damage caused by high blood pressure, sepsis from infections other than SARS-CoV-2, and endometritis requiring prolonged administration of intravenous antibiotics.

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