Covid Increases Risk Of Stillbirth Or Newborn Death, Especially For Unvaccinated Women, Study Finds
Topline
A study of pregnant Scottish women who contracted Covid-19 found they had higher rates of pre-term birth, stillbirth and death of newborns, with almost all such cases occurring among women who were unvaccinated when they were diagnosed with the disease, according to a paper published Thursday in Nature Medicine, underlining the urgency of convincing pregnant women to get a coronavirus vaccine.
A pregnant woman holds her stomach.
Ian Waldie/Getty Images
Key Facts
Covid increases the risk of perinatal baby death from 0.56% to 0.8% and the risk of premature birth from 7.9% to 10.19%, as well as increasing the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially deadly complication characterized by high blood pressure and damage to organs like the liver and kidneys, researchers found.
Among the women studied, 77.4% of Covid cases associated with hospital admission and 98% of cases associated with critical care admission or death of a baby occurred among pregnant women who were unvaccinated when diagnosed with the disease, according to the study.
Additionally, 16.6% of babies born within 28 days after their mother was diagnosed with Covid were delivered prematurely, compared to a typical rate of 8%, researchers said.
The study, which included 91,183 pregnancies among 87,694 women in Scotland, found that just 32.3% of women who gave birth in October had received two doses of vaccine, compared to 77.4% of all women in the country.
Key Background
The study reinforced previous findings by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the risks for pregnant women of failing to get vaccinated. As of January, only about 41% of pregnant women in the U.S. were fully vaccinated, compared to 62.7% of the population overall. Vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women who want to “take care of the baby naturally” goes back to the invention of the smallpox vaccine in the 18th century, said Dr. Lanny F. Wilson, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Avalon University School of Medicine in Youngstown, Ohio. Additionally, false claims that Covid vaccines cause sterility or baby death are a common feature of conspiracy theories circulated online. The CDC determined that Covid vaccination is not associated with premature birth or small baby size, reinforcing previous findings that vaccination does not increase the risk of miscarriage.The study reinforced previous findings by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the risks for pregnant women of failing to get vaccinated. As of January, only about 41% of pregnant women in the U.S. were fully vaccinated, compared to 62.7% of the population overall. Vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women who want to “take care of the baby naturally” goes back to the invention of the smallpox vaccine in the 18th century, said Dr. Lanny F. Wilson, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Avalon University School of Medicine in Youngstown, Ohio. Additionally, false claims that Covid vaccines cause sterility or baby death are a common feature of conspiracy theories circulated online. The CDC determined that Covid vaccination is not associated with premature birth or small baby size, reinforcing previous findings that vaccination does not increase the risk of miscarriage.
Crucial Quote
“This advice needs to go out to partners and parents and grandparents and friends, so people can recognize that vaccination in pregnancy is the safest and most effective way for pregnant women to protect themselves and their babies,” University of Edinburgh researcher Dr. Sarah Stock, one of the authors of the Nature Medicine study, told CBS.
Surprising Fact
Women with symptomatic Covid during pregnancy are 70% more likely to die than non-pregnant women with the disease, according to Yale Medicine.
Contra
Pregnant women do not seem to be at greater risk for catching Covid than non-pregnant women, the Nature Medicine study found.
Further Reading
“New study reveals stark COVID risks for unvaccinated pregnant women and their babies” (CBS)
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