Research reveals, Covid increases chance of severe illness and death in pregnant women

Different studies determinethe impact of Covid on pregnant women and their children,makingit hard to reacha detailed conclusion.

A recent study has revealed that pregnant women are more likely to have serious illnesses and can even die sometimes due to infection. Medical expertsalso urged pregnant women to take the Covid vaccination to reduce the risk to themselves and their children, Guardian reported.

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Recent research at George Washington University analysed data from almost 13,000 unvaccinated pregnant women reported in several countries.

Published in the BMJ Global Health, the study also highlighted a greater death rate.

Dr Emily Smith along with her co-workers analysed three per cent of the Covid-infected pregnant women who were admitted to intensive care, was four times morethan the uninfected women. Shereported that about two per cent of the infected women needed mechanical ventilation to help them breathe.

Smith said, "We found that women who have Covid in pregnancy are at greater risk of ending up in the intensive care unit or even dying or having some pregnancy-related problems like pre-eclampsia, as compared to their peers who were pregnant at the same time but didn’t get Covid."

It also analysed that around seven per cent of pregnant women died from Covid compared to one per cent of those who avoided the infection.

The studystated that unvaccinated Covid-infected mothers are more likely to give birth to premature babies and can also have their babies admitted to neonatal intensive care.

While reflecting on the findings, the research did not distinguish different covid variants.

(With inputs from agencies)

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