South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Research links COVID during pregnancy with higher chance of stillbirths
Pregnant women with COVID-19 face increased chances for stillbirths compared with uninfected women, and that risk spiked to four times higher after the delta variant emerged, new government data show.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report that examined 1.2 million deliveries in 736 hospitals nationwide from March 2020 through September 2021.
Stillbirths were rare overall, totaling 8,154 among all deliveries. But the researchers found that for women with COVID19, about 1 in 80 deliveries resulted in stillbirth. Among the uninfected, it was 1 in 155.
Among those with COVID-19, stillbirths were more common in people with chronic high blood pressure and other complications, including those in intensive care or on breathing machines.
“These findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 prevention strategies, including vaccination before or during pregnancy,” CDC researcher Carla DeSisto and co-authors said.
Pregnant people with COVID-19 are more likely than others to develop severe — even fatal — illness, and they face increased risks for preterm birth and other complications. Previous studies on stillbirths and COVID-19 had mixed findings, but the report bolsters concerns among obstetricians and anecdotal data.
Some experts have speculated that the virus may cause inflammation in the placenta or other abnormalities that could harm the fetus.
Dr. Joseph Biggio, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies in New Orleans, said the study doesn’t prove that COVID-19 caused stillbirths. He said it’s possible some women were so critically ill that physicians trying to keep them alive “couldn’t intervene on behalf of a fetus that they knew was in trouble.”
The researchers relied on medical records, and they noted that they were unable to determine if the COVID-19 diagnoses listed at the time of delivery represented current or past infections.