COVID-19 in pregnancy, management and outcomes among pregnant women and neonates — results from tertiary care center in Wroclaw

Abstract

Objectives: A novel coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 — outbreak has, for sure, been the greatest medical challenge in recent years. The maternal and neonatal consequences of the infection are still largely unknown. Material and methods: This prospective study aims to describe the perinatal care and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnant women and their newborn infants during the third wave of the pandemic, in a large tertiary university center in Wroclaw/Poland from 15 February to 1 May 2021. Results: The paper describes a group of 83 women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during delivery, as well as their newborn infants (n = 84). The course of COVID-19 disease in pregnant patients was mostly asymptomatic (54.2%) but 31% women manifested mild to moderate symptoms and 14% had severe infection. The median gestational age at the delivery was 39 weeks. On average, 16.7% of mothers were separated from their newborns at birth, 83.3% practiced skin-to-skin, and roomed in with their babies, and 84.5% of the infants received any mother’s milk. Preterm infants were more often born by mothers with symptomatic course of COVID-19 infection. Need for neonatal treatment was only due to prematurity. Neonates with acquired infection (after 14th day of life) had to be treated symptomatically with fever and loose stools, only 28.5% had symptoms of respiratory failure. Conclusions: Despite the confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, the majority of mother-infant dyads were in a good health condition. The data on perinatal care reported in the paper could be helpful contribution supporting childbirth physiology protection during the COVID-19 pandemic.