Pregnancy does not seem to be associated with more severe COVID-19 infections.
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Risk of antenatal vertical transmission of COVID-19 is low.
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Epidural analgesia should be considered, provided platelet counts are not low.
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Droplet precautions are indicated for all women with suspected COVID-19.
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Airborne precautions recommended for general anaesthesia or higher risk thereof.
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus causing a global pandemic of a severe respiratory illness known as COVID-19. To date, globally, over 30,000 people have died from this emerging disease. As clinicians and healthcare systems around the world are rapidly adapting to manage patients with COVID-19, limited data are emerging from different patient populations to support best-practice and improve outcomes. In this review, we present a summary of emerging data in the obstetric population and offer obstetric and anaesthetic clinicians around the world a set of evidence-driven, practice-based recommendations for the anaesthetic management of pregnant women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.