COVID-19 is a dangerous viral disease. Everyone can get infected as this disease spreads very easily. However, it is particularly dangerous to older people and those living with chronic health conditions. But what about pregnant women?
Scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Strathclyde, and St Andrew’s and Victoria University of Wellington have found that COVID-19 can be linked to complications during pregnancy and they depend on the time of the infection.
COVID-19 has been linked to complications during birth – something to be aware of. Image credit: Jared Hersch via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
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Scientists analysed data relating to all pregnant women in Scotland. As pregnant women got the COVID-19 vaccine more rarely than the general women population, this study included more than 87,000 women who were pregnant between the start of vaccination uptake in December 2020 and October 2021. 33 % of women who gave birth in October 2021 were fully vaccinated, while the number in the general population was 77 %. But scientists were more interested in birth complications related to this ailment, so let’s put a pin in the vaccine situation.
Scientists found that the rate of the extended perinatal death in babies born within 28 days of their mother developing Covid-19 was 23 per 1,000 births. The background figure in Scotland normally was 6 perinatal deaths per 1,000. This means that COVID-19 was associated with a huge increase in perinatal deaths. Furthermore, it can also be linked to a higher rate of preterm births as 17 % of babies were born more than three weeks before their due date when their mothers got COVID-19 within 28 days before giving birth.
This is very important information – women who have this illness towards the end of their pregnancy are vulnerable to birth-related complications. COVID-19 earlier during the pregnancy was less dangerous in terms of birth complications. But it is time to take the pin out of the vaccine question.
All of the perinatal deaths in this study occurred to babies of unvaccinated women. Admission to hospital and critical care were also significantly more common in pregnant women who were unvaccinated at the time of diagnosis. While scientists cannot say that COVID-19 definitely contributed to these catastrophic life events, it does seem to be the case.
Dr Sarah Stock, co-lead author of the study, said: “Our data add to the evidence that vaccination in pregnancy does not increase the risk of complications in pregnancy, but Covid-19 does. Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy is crucial to protect women and babies from preventable, life-threatening complications of Covid-19.”
Pregnant women need to have a good working relationship with their doctors. They need to listen to their advice and not give in to some crazy fears. This illness can be very dangerous at least for now until effective medications are created, and it is better to avoid it.
Source: University of Edinburgh