Impact of COVID-19 on Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused global uncertainty. Recent studies indicate an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, spontaneous preterm labor, and severe maternal and neonatal complications caused by COVID-19. Objectives: The aim of our study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and neonatal perinatal outcomes. Methods: This is a non-interventional, analytical clinical study. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 410 histories of pregnant women admitted to hospitals from 2020 to 2022 in the City Infectious Disease Centre and the City Infectious Disease Hospital of Shymkent. Results: In the main group, there were 48 (21.0%) babies, while in the control group, there were 18 (10.5%) babies. A weight above 2500 g was recorded in 79% (182) of newborns in the main group. When comparing the weight of newborns between the groups, we did not find statistically significant differences (P = 0.051). Births of babies weighing more than 2500 g were 2.26 times more common in the control group than in the main group (95% CI: 0.984 - 5.228). A birth height of less than 48 cm was recorded in 1.7% (3) cases in the control group and 13.8% (32) of newborns in the main group (P = 0.002). A birth height greater than 48 cm was recorded in 86.2% (198) of neonates in the main group and 98.3% (84) in the control group. Conclusions: A large systematic review (28 studies involving 790,954 pregnant women, among whom 15,524 were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection) aimed to investigate the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and the risk of pre-eclampsia. It should also be noted that SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy increases the likelihood of developing severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. In our study, preeclampsia (54 - 13.1%) and HELLP syndrome (4 - 1.1%) were more frequent in the main group than in the comparison group. It should also be noted that frequent complications of COVID-19 in pregnant women included preterm labor (80 - 19.4%) and antenatal fetal death (8 - 2.0%).