COVID-19 & Pregnancy Complication During Early Pandemic: A Narrative Review

Authors

Ahmed A. Eladely, University of LouisvilleFollow
Maria Hill, University of LouisvilleFollow
Ahmed Abdelhaleem, University of LouisvilleFollow
Zahid Imran, University of LouisvilleFollow
Ahsan M. Khan, University of LouisvilleFollow
Daisy Sangroula, University of LouisvilleFollow

Funder

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Abstract

Background: Coronaviruses have caused three outbreaks in the past two decades. The novel one is SARS-COV-2, which causes COVID-19. Pregnant women have a somewhat altered immune state, which may make them more vulnerable to COVID-19 and its complications. Extensive research is needed to better understand the clinical course of COVID-19 in this population. This review article discusses the comparison of SARS-CoV-2 with previous coronavirus outbreaks, clinical presentations, and complications in pregnant women and newborns.

Methods: We conducted a literature search for case series and case reports about pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 during the early phase of pandemic.

Results: In case series, 37 of 129 (28.6%) pregnant women with COVID-19 disease had preterm delivery, and 14 of 67 (20.9%) pregnant women had fetal distress. The rate of preterm labor in normal pregnant women who are healthy and not infected with any virus worldwide is approximately 11%.

Conclusion: Based on the articles reviewed, preterm delivery appears to be the most common complication in pregnant COVID-19 patients. Other complications include fetal distress, stillbirth, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and severe disease leading to fetal demise and maternal mortality. Pregnancy outcomes seem to be better with COVID-19 compared to SARS and MERS. However, most of these publications are from the early part of the pandemic, when protocols for the care of pregnant women were being developed and comprehensive knowledge of the disease process in pregnant women was still a work in progress.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/74

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Eladely, Ahmed A.; Hill, Maria; Abdelhaleem, Ahmed; Imran, Zahid; Khan, Ahsan M.; and Sangroula, Daisy (2020) "COVID-19 & Pregnancy Complication During Early Pandemic: A Narrative Review," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 74.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/74
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol4/iss1/74