COVID-19 POSITIVE PREGNANT WOMEN MATERNAL AND NEWBORN OUTCOMES

Abstract

Background: Since the maternal immune system is suppressed during pregnancy, pregnant women are a risk group for COVID-19 infection. Thus, this study investigates pregnancy outcomes of COVID-19 infected women during childbirth.

 Methods: A retrospective study was performed at the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Clinical Hospital Mostar which included a total of 65 COVID-19 positive women who delivered from March 2020 to April 2022. The control group consisted of COVID-19 negative women with no detected SARSCoV-2 infection during pregnancy or labor (n=65). The data on maternal and newborn outcomes were collected from database and medical records.

Main findings: Pregnancies of COVID-19 positive women were more often completed by caesarean section (35.4 %), compared to the control group (26.2 %). The most common pregnancy complications were preterm birth (12.3 %) and perinatal asphyxia (10.8 %) in COVID-19 positive group, while these complications were lower in the control group (preterm birth 10.8 %, perinatal asphyxia 6.2 %). There were no significant differences in pregnancy complications and outcomes between COVID-19 positive mothers and controls. The percentage of infected newborns was 4.6 % in COVID-19 positive group.

Principal conclusion: The results of the research from a clinical point of view showed that COVID-19 positive pregnant women and their newborns have an increased risk of an unfavorable perinatal outcome, but without statistical significance, which can be explained by the small sample size.

Key words: childbirth, maternal and newborn outcomes,  COVID-19 infection