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. 2020 Jul;150(1):47-52.
doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13182. Epub 2020 May 17.

A systematic scoping review of COVID-19 during pregnancy and childbirth

Farida Elshafeey  1 , Rana Magdi  1 , Nader Hindi  1 , Mohamed Elshebiny  1 , Nourhan Farrag  1 , Shahd Mahdy  1 , Mohamed Sabbour  1 , Sara Gebril  1 , Mohamed Nasser  1 , Menna Kamel  1 , Abdelrahman Amir  1 , Moataz Maher Emara  2 , Ashraf Nabhan  3   4
Affiliations

A systematic scoping review of COVID-19 during pregnancy and childbirth

Farida Elshafeey et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Clinical presentation and outcomes of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy remain limited and fragmented.

Objectives: To summarize the existing literature on COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and childbirth, particularly concerning clinical presentation and outcomes.

Search strategy: A systematic search of LitCovid, EBSCO MEDLINE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases. The references of relevant studies were also searched.

Selection criteria: Identified titles and abstracts were screened to select original reports and cross-checked for overlap of cases.

Data collection and analysis: A descriptive summary organized by aspects of clinical presentations (symptoms, imaging, and laboratory) and outcomes (maternal and perinatal).

Main results: We identified 33 studies reporting 385 pregnant women with COVID-19 infection: 368 (95.6%) mild; 14 (3.6%) severe; and 3 (0.8%) critical. Seventeen women were admitted to intensive care, including six who were mechanically ventilated and one maternal mortality. A total of 252 women gave birth, comprising 175 (69.4%) cesarean and 77 (30.6%) vaginal births. Outcomes for 256 newborns included four RT-PCR positive neonates, two stillbirths, and one neonatal death.

Conclusion: COVID-19 infection during pregnancy probably has a clinical presentation and severity resembling that in non-pregnant adults. It is probably not associated with poor maternal or perinatal outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Childbirth; Coronavirus; Neonate; Pregnancy; Systematic scoping review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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