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Review
. 2021 Jun:73:113-124.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2021.03.003. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Maternal medicine in the COVID era

Sophie Relph  1 , Shakila Thangaratinam  2
Affiliations
Review

Maternal medicine in the COVID era

Sophie Relph et al. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has directly and indirectly impacted pregnant women with co-morbidities or antenatal medical complications, through vulnerability to the severe effects of COVID-19 and service reconfiguration. Women with diabetes or hypertension in pregnancy are at higher risk of admission to intensive care, need for invasive ventilation and death from COVID-19. Suggested service modifications specific to maternal medicine services include home measurement of blood glucose or blood pressure, the use of risk calculators, adaptations to screening criteria for gestational diabetes and monitoring of obstetric cholestasis. Neither the added risk of COVID-19 on pregnant women with medical comorbidities nor the impact of maternal medicine service modifications has yet been established.

Keywords: COVID-19; Co-morbidities; Maternal medicine; Pregnancy; Prenatal care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest SR is an obstetric clinical fellow at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and member of the RCOG COVID-19 guidance cell. She coordinated, part co-authored and edited the RCOG COVID-19 guidance ‘Guidance for maternal medicine services in the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’. ST was the lead author of the ‘RCOG COVID-19 guidance ‘Guidance for maternal medicine services in the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’ and the lead of the PREGCOV project: Living Systematic Review on COVID-19 in pregnancy.

References

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