A systematic scoping review of COVID-19 during pregnancy and childbirth

Clinical presentation and outcomes of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy remain limited and fragmented.

To summarize the existing literature on COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and childbirth, particularly concerning clinical presentation and outcomes.

A systematic search of LitCovid, EBSCO MEDLINE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases. The references of relevant studies were also searched.

Identified titles and abstracts were screened to select original reports and cross-checked for overlap of cases.

A descriptive summary organized by aspects of clinical presentations (symptoms, imaging, and laboratory) and outcomes (maternal and perinatal).

We identified 33 studies reporting 385 pregnant women with COVID-19 infection: 368 (95.6%) mild; 14 (3.6%) severe; and 3 (0.8%) critical. Seventeen women were admitted to intensive care, including six who were mechanically ventilated and one maternal mortality. A total of 252 women gave birth, comprising 175 (69.4%) cesarean and 77 (30.6%) vaginal births. Outcomes for 256 newborns included four RT-PCR positive neonates, two stillbirths, and one neonatal death.

COVID-19 infection during pregnancy probably has a clinical presentation and severity resembling that in non-pregnant adults. It is probably not associated with poor maternal or perinatal outcomes.