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Complications in Pregnant Women and Newborns Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Fariba Zare1, Arezoo Karimi2, Salman Daliri3
1Center for Health Related Social and Behavioral Sciences Research, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
Insights
Pregnancy complications like hypertension and gestational diabetes significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This highlights the urgent need for enhanced maternal care and medical interventions to protect pregnant women and newborns.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Pregnant women represent a high-risk group for COVID-19 complications due to immune system changes.
- Limited treatment options for COVID-19 in pregnant individuals exacerbate risks.
- The study addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare pregnancy complications before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To quantify the changes in specific pregnancy-related health issues.
- To provide data for improved maternal and neonatal care strategies.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study design was employed.
- Data were collected from 6851 pregnant women in Shahroud, Iran.
- A comparative analysis was conducted between the pre-pandemic period (Feb 2019-Feb 2020) and the pandemic period (Feb 2020-Feb 2021).
Main Results:
- Hypertension disorder, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, pre-eclampsia, and cesarean section rates increased during the pandemic.
- Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions and preterm births also showed an increase.
- Regression analysis indicated significantly higher odds for conditions like high blood pressure, GDM, placental abruption, and cesarean sections during the pandemic.
Conclusions:
- Pregnancy complications saw a notable rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- There is a critical need for targeted health and medical strategies to mitigate risks for pregnant women and neonates.
- The findings underscore the importance of continued research and public health measures during infectious disease outbreaks.
Background:
One of the high-risk groups exposed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was pregnant women at risk of pregnancy complications due to a weakened immune system and inability to use various drugs to treat COVID-19. Accordingly, this study was conducted to investigate the complications in pregnancy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Material And Methods:
This cross-sectional study was performed on all pregnant women in Shahroud, Iran. The time interval from February 18, 2019, to February 17, 2020, was considered before the COVID-19 pandemic and from February 18, 2020, to February 17, 2021, was considered the COVID-19 pandemic. Sampling was conducted by census and included 6851 pregnant women. The required information was extracted from hospitals' health deputy registration system and high-risk pregnancy registration program.
Result:
Based on the findings, hypertension disorder, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, pre-eclampsia, cesarean section, hospitalization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), preterm birth, and hospitalization in other hospital wards increased by 1.88%, 1.93%, 0.12%, 0.45%, 5.45%, 1.00%, 1.20%, and 1.40%, respectively, in 2020 compared to 2019. A statistically significant difference was also observed between them (p < 0.05). Also, the regression results showed that the chances of high blood pressure, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), placental abruption, and cesarean section were increased by 10.91, 1.53, 5.51, and 2.83 times, respectively.
Conclusions:
Pregnancy complications have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is a need to take appropriate health and medical measures to reduce the risks associated with the COVID-19 epidemic for pregnant women and neonates.
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