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. 2021 Feb;57(2):232-241.
doi: 10.1002/uog.23107. Epub 2021 Jan 21.

Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection

WAPM (World Association of Perinatal Medicine) Working Group on COVID-19
Collaborators
Free article

Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection

WAPM (World Association of Perinatal Medicine) Working Group on COVID-19. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Feb.
Free article

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Sep;58(3):496. doi: 10.1002/uog.23749. Epub 2021 Aug 9. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2021. PMID: 34369029 No abstract available.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: This was a multinational retrospective cohort study including women with a singleton pregnancy and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, conducted in 72 centers in 22 different countries in Europe, the USA, South America, Asia and Australia, between 1 February 2020 and 30 April 2020. Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasopharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite measure of maternal mortality and morbidity, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), use of mechanical ventilation and death.

Results: In total, 388 women with a singleton pregnancy tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR of a nasopharyngeal swab and were included in the study. Composite adverse maternal outcome was observed in 47/388 (12.1%) women; 43 (11.1%) women were admitted to the ICU, 36 (9.3%) required mechanical ventilation and three (0.8%) died. Of the 388 women included in the study, 122 (31.4%) were still pregnant at the time of data analysis. Among the other 266 women, six (19.4% of the 31 women with first-trimester infection) had miscarriage, three (1.1%) had termination of pregnancy, six (2.3%) had stillbirth and 251 (94.4%) delivered a liveborn infant. The rate of preterm birth before 37 weeks' gestation was 26.3% (70/266). Of the 251 liveborn infants, 69/251 (27.5%) were admitted to the neonatal ICU, and there were five (2.0%) neonatal deaths. The overall rate of perinatal death was 4.1% (11/266). Only one (1/251, 0.4%) infant, born to a mother who tested positive during the third trimester, was found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR.

Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women is associated with a 0.8% rate of maternal mortality, but an 11.1% rate of admission to the ICU. The risk of vertical transmission seems to be negligible. © 2020 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; infection; pregnancy.

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References

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