Pregnant women who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and contracted the coronavirus are more likely to develop severe infections than other pregnant women. They are also more likely to lose their fetus or die soon after birth, Scottish scientists are alarming.
The results of research conducted as part of the Covid in Pregnancy Study program have been published in Nature Medicine. Experts from various centers, including the medical universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and the University of Wellington in New Zealand, participated in the study. They covered 87 thousand. pregnant women in the period from December 2022 to October 2022
Scientists have shown that during pregnancy, those who fell ill within 28 days before delivery are most at risk from complications after COVID-19. Complications were significantly more frequent in such women than in women who suffered from the disease earlier in pregnancy.
The deaths of children were also more frequent. The authors observed 22.6 deaths for every 1,000 births - four times the newborn death rate in Scotland of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 births (for women who were vaccinated or not contracted with COVID-19).
The authors of the study emphasize that the vast majority of complications occurred in women who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19. In turn , all child deaths recorded in the study concerned children of unvaccinated women . "It is striking that the children of women who have been vaccinated and contracted COVID-19 have not died," said Dr. Sarah J. Stock, first author of the study, specialist in perinatal medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
The researcher emphasizes that vaccination against COVID-19 during pregnancy does not increase the risk of complications, while coronavirus infection may even cause serious complications. "Vaccination during pregnancy is of key importance in protecting both mother and baby from fatal complications," she emphasizes.
The same observations have shown that the number of complications in women vaccinated during pregnancy is the same as in those who have not been infected with the coronavirus. This is an additional argument - say the authors of the study - the speakersfor the fact that these vaccinations are safe during pregnancy.
According to BBC News, as much as 98 percent in Great Britain pregnant women who receive treatment in intensive care units for COVID-19 have not been vaccinated. Doctors encourage pregnant women to take these vaccinations. The available data show that pregnant women are less frequently vaccinated than women aged 18-44 who did not expect a child in the analyzed period.