A large-scale global analysis found that pregnant women infected with the virus were seven times more likely to die and had a much higher risk of serious complications.
Pregnant women infected with the virus are more than 3 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care and 15 times more likely to need a ventilator to help them breathe.
The risk of pneumonia is also 23 times higher and the likelihood of blood clots is 5 times higher.
The study also showed that contracting the coronavirus during pregnancy also increases the risk that babies will need to be admitted to intensive care.
Emily Smith, assistant professor of global health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University and lead author of the study, said: "The implication here is that if you're pregnant, or you're thinking about getting pregnant, vaccination is really important. ”
"It really reduces the risk of these adverse outcomes for the mother or baby."
The analysis was based on 12 studies involving more than 13,000 pregnant women in Ghana, Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Turkey, Uganda and the USA.
"Our new study is one of the largest in the world to study pregnant people and compares them to people who contracted COVID during pregnancy and those who did not," Smith said. ”
The study also included data from all women in the third trimester of pregnancy, proving that contracting the coronavirus at any point of pregnancy does pose this additional risk to mom and baby.
It was found that women who were infected with the new coronavirus during pregnancy were at greater risk of ending up in intensive care or even dying or developing some pregnancy-related problems than their peers who were pregnant at the same time but did not contract the new coronavirus.
It was also found that mothers infected with the new coronavirus during pregnancy, their children were more likely to be born prematurely or prematurely, and the risk of the baby ending up in the neonatal] ICU was increased.
Babies born to women infected with the coronavirus are almost twice as likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit after birth as neonatal intensive care units, and the risk of preterm birth is also higher.
Smith said premature babies are at high risk for lifelong health problems, including delayed cognitive development in early childhood.
Despite the serious health risks, more than 80 countries do not recommend the vaccine for all pregnant and lactating women.
While it has been difficult to put the evidence together in the past, this analysis provides clear, consistent and convincing findings for public health officials and the public.
Studies have repeatedly found that the new crown vaccine is safe during pregnancy.
A study published last August in The Lancet Infectious Diseases also found that the rate of health events following vaccination was lower than that of people of similar age and pregnancy who were not vaccinated.
The study is one of the first to look at vaccine side effects in a group of vaccinated pregnant women as well as unvaccinated pregnant women and a group of vaccinated non-pregnant women in order to compare the three.
Overall, 2.1% of unvaccinated pregnant women and 1.5% of vaccinated pregnant women experienced miscarriage or stillbirth within seven days of receiving any mRNA vaccine.
An earlier study in Israel found that pregnant women who received the coronavirus vaccine could pass protection on to their babies.
Source: Le Monde
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