A recent study in France revealed that COVID-19 raises the risk of birth complications among pregnant women who develop the disease. These women may face some complications like preeclampsia and gestational hypertension. It is expected that this finding may encourage pregnant people to get vaccinated.
The researchers analyzed data between January and June 2020. The study mainly focused on the record of hospitalizations for birth after 22 weeks gestation in France. Among 244,465 births in hospitals during this period, 874 mothers had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
A physician at Total Women’s Care in Houston Dr. Vonne Jones said, “It’s great to have data to back up what we know. It’s been shown in what we’ve seen overseas in Israel and on the East Coast (both epicenters early in the pandemic),” She also said, “Pregnant women who contract COVID-19 are three times as likely to be hospitalized as those who don’t.”
It was found that pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to admit to the hospital than those women who are not affected by the coronavirus. A physician at the Rejuvenating Fertility Center in New York, Dr. Marco Mouanness said, “At the beginning of the pandemic, most of the research was pointing (toward the idea that) COVID-19 does not increase adverse pregnancy outcomes.”
Then he added, “This was overturned by new information that indicates that pregnant women are at higher risk if they contract COVID-19.”