COVID-19 in Pregnant Women: Case Series from One Large New York City Obstetrical Practice

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to report a case series of pregnant women in New York City with confirmed or presumed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection.

Study design: Beginning March 22, 2020, all pregnant women from one large obstetrical practice in New York City were contacted regularly to inquire about symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, malaise, anosmia), or sick contacts. A running log was kept of these patients, as well as all patients who underwent COVID-19 testing. For this report, we included every patient with suspected COVID-19 infection, which was defined as at least two symptoms, or a positive COVID-19 nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction test.

Results: From March 22, 2020 until April 30, 2020, 757 pregnant women in our practice were evaluated and 92 had known or suspected COVID-19 (12.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.0-14.7%). Of these 92 women, 33 (36%) had positive COVID-19 test results. Only one woman required hospital admission for 5 days due to COVID-19 (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.2-5.9%). One other woman received home oxygen. No women required mechanical ventilation and there were no maternal deaths. One woman had an unexplained fetal demise at 14 weeks' gestation around the time of her COVID-19 symptoms. Twenty one of the 92 women have delivered, and all were uncomplicated.

Conclusions: Among 92 women with confirmed or presumed COVID-19, the overall morbidity was low. These preliminary results are encouraging for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key points: · Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is prevalent in New York City.. · In this case series, COVID-19 in pregnant women had a very low morbidity and no mortality.. · This preliminary data is reassuring for pregnant women at risk of COVID-19..