Covid positive pregnant women 8 times more at risk: Study
Covid-19 infection poses eight times higher risk of adverse maternal outcomes in pregnant women, a recent study found.
Among the Covid-19 infected pregnant women, 46 percent had adverse maternal outcomes while it was only 5.3 percent among Covid negative expecting mothers, according to the study shared at an event in National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM) today.
The adverse maternal outcomes among Covid positive women include preterm (before 37 weeks) delivery, still birth and ectopic pregnancy.
NIPSOM carried out the study on 215 Covid positive and 675 negative pregnant women -- aged 15 to 45 -- in five hospitals in Dhaka city, between April 2020 and April 2021.
More than half of the women were aged 24-35, while the average age was around 26 years, according to NIPSOM.
According to the study, adverse maternal outcomes were more significantly associated with Covid positive pregnant women who have prior health complications than those who were Covid negative with similar prior complications.
Such as 62.8 percent of Covid-19 positive pregnant women with prior health complications developed adverse outcomes while it was only 7.4 percent in case of Covid-negative pregnant women with similar health complications.
"The study findings indicate there is link between adverse maternal outcome and Covid-19. So, we have to be more careful about pregnant women and their treatment if infected with Covid-19," Prof Dr Sameena Chowdhury, former president of the Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) who attended the event, told The Daily Star.
The study also finds that a coronavirus infected pregnant woman has 1.2 times higher risk of undergoing caesarean section than an uninfected pregnant woman.
However, the death rate among Covid positive pregnant women was insignificant -- only one pregnant woman died during the study, according to NIPSOM.
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