Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus during pregnancy were 7 times more at risk of dying from COVID-19 and exposed to an increased risk of complications, as well as their unborn babies.
At least that’s what a meta-analysis published this week in the British Medical Journal Global Health finds, based on data collected from more than 13,000 pregnant women from studies conducted in 12 countries to better assess the risk posed by COVID contracted during pregnancy.
The researchers, who measured the impact of COVID on pregnancies carried out between February 2020 and July 2021, concluded that the relative risk of death was multiplied by 7 among infected parturients, and five times more frequent use of intensive care.
More than 50% of pregnant women recruited—infected and uninfected—in these studies were from Sweden, Spain, Italy, and the United States. A smaller proportion of the data collected came from China, Turkey and countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The data was collected at a time when most study participants were unvaccinated. These results therefore offer insight into the risk COVID poses to pregnant women who have not developed immunity following a vaccine, infection, or both.
Women infected during pregnancy were also 23 times more likely to develop pneumonia and 15 times more likely to be placed on a ventilator. Infection also significantly increased the risk of other serious complications, including preeclampsia and embolism due to thrombosis. The data demonstrates that there have been more preterm births and intensive care admissions among newborns of infected mothers, but not more stillbirths.
According to Dr. Diane Francoeur, obstetrician-gynecologist at the Sainte-Justine Pediatric University Hospital, this study confirms the validity of the recommendations advocating the vaccination of pregnant women for a long time. They attest to the empirical observations made in this hospital, to the effect that parturients develop more complications following the infection than the general population.
“With hindsight, we are delighted to have been more aggressive in our approach (emphasizing vaccination) to protect pregnant women. We have seen it from the start in the field that they are more at risk, ”says this medical specialist.
While the figures reported in this study are worrying, the reality has changed since then, insists Dr. Francoeur. The variants now implicated in COVID cause less severe symptoms and vaccination has greatly limited complications in pregnant women, she believes.
In addition to vaccines, about 75% of the population has now contracted the virus, which gives many expectant mothers hybrid immunity, she explains. Still, we do not know exactly how many pregnant women are adequately protected, as no data is collected on this subject when the vaccine is given in Quebec, deplores Dr. Francoeur. She estimates that half of her patients still refuse to be vaccinated.
“There are settings where adherence to the vaccine remains […] very low and where disinformation continues to prevail and prevail over scientific information,” laments this specialist. “Even though it is known that the infection no longer causes as many complications as before, the vaccine still prevents the severe form of COVID, possible hospitalizations and stays in intensive care,” she says.
According to Dr. Francoeur, many women still fearful of harming their unborn child put themselves unnecessarily at risk by refusing the vaccine. “Even if they don’t come out of their homes to protect themselves, they will end up being exposed to the virus by their other children who bring the virus home. »