COVID-19 ups risk of stillbirth by nearly twice, says study in US

If a new study is to be believed, the risk of stillbirth is about twice as high for women with Covid compared to those without.

When the Delta variant had become dominant, the risk of stillbirth had grown to about quadruple, a large US government study said on Friday.

Also Read:Nearly 100 million people worldwide have suffered from long Covid: Study

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, the analysis was based on over 1.2 million deliveries, which were conducted between March 2020 and September 2021, from a large hospital database of the country.

Accounting for 0.65 per cent or 8,154 deliveries, stillbirths were highly rare overall.

After using statistical methods to account for the effect of other variables that might change the result, stillbirths were 1.47 times more common in Covid-positive mothers pre-Delta, 4.04 times higher after and 1.90 times higher overall.

Also Read:'A major milestone': Canada approves Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for kids aged 5-11

The previous research indicated a potential biological cause for the increased risk that could be the result of inflammation or decreased blood flow to the placenta, wrote authors.

Among deliveries with Covid, conditions, such as heart injury, having more than one baby, life-threatening lung injury, sepsis, poor blood flow resulting in shock, separation of the placenta from the uterus, chronic high blood pressure and having to go on a ventilator or being admitted to ICU, were linked to higher rates of stillbirth.

(With inputs from agencies)