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By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter<\/p>\n
THURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Pregnant<\/a> women with COVID-19<\/a> have little risk of developing severe symptoms, as do their newborns, a new study finds.<\/p>\n In fact, 95% of these women have good outcomes, and just 3% of their babies<\/a> test positive for COVID-19<\/a>, researchers say.<\/p>\n “For 5% of COVID-19<\/a>-positive pregnant<\/a> women, however — those who get very sick — the risks to both mother and baby are significant,” said study lead author Dr. Emily Adhikari, medical director of perinatal infectious diseases at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.<\/p>\n Pregnancy<\/a> itself, however, does not appear to increase the odds for COVID complications, she said.<\/p>\n “Most women with asymptomatic or mild infection will be relieved to know that their babies<\/a> are unlikely to be affected by the virus,” Adhikari said.<\/p>\n “When studying all pregnant women with COVID-19<\/a> infection, both those needing and not needing hospitalization, we are able to identify that the risks to the mothers are similar to those of the general population,” she added.<\/p>\n At the start of the pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> thought the risk for pregnant women was greater than for others. But the new findings should reassure pregnant women that their risk is in line with other groups, researchers said.<\/p>\n “The initial reports from the CDC were very frightening, but it may not be as bad as it seemed to be initially,” said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an ob-gyn at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She was not part of the study, but reviewed the findings.<\/p>\n But more data is needed to know the risk to mother and baby of SARS<\/a>-CoV-2 transmission, Wu said. Babies of infected mothers should be tested for COVID-19<\/a>, she added.<\/p>\n For the study, Adhikari and her colleagues followed nearly 3,400 expectant women, 252 of whom had COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n Among those who tested positive, 95% had no or mild symptoms. Six women, however, developed severe or critical COVID pneumonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Comparing women with and without COVID-19 during pregnancy<\/a>, researchers found it did not increase the risk of adverse outcomes \u2014 including preterm birth, preeclampsia<\/a>, or cesarean delivery for abnormal fetal heart<\/a> rate, Adhikari said.<\/p>\n Preterm birth was higher among women who had severe or critical illness, but it’s hard to predict which patients will. Researchers said diabetes<\/a> may boost the odds.<\/p>\n “Of the 252 infected women, the rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 was 6%, which is similar to the rate in the general population and lower than previous reports,” Adhikari said. “Earlier studies had suggested that almost 20% of pregnant women with COVID-19 might require hospitalization.”<\/p>\n The study found that being pregnant does not appear to increase the risk of severe illness for the majority of women, she added.<\/p>\n Even so, Wu said pregnant women — like everyone else — should wear masks and practice social distancing to minimize the odds of getting the virus.<\/p>\n “We do think that pregnant women have more risks with COVID-19 infections, so all precautions should be taken to avoid getting infected,” Wu said.<\/p>\n The findings were published online Nov. 19 in the journal JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n For more on COVID-19, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCES: Emily Adhikari, MD, medical director, perinatal infectious diseases, Parkland Hospital, Dallas, and assistant professor, obstetrics and gynecology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Jennifer Wu, MD, obstetrician-gynecologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; JAMA Network Open<\/em>, online, Nov. 19, 2020<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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