Study of pregnancy with covid-19 and its clinical outcomes in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Western India

Abstract

Objectives: To study cases of pregnancy with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and its clinical outcome. To study evidence of the vertical transmission in pregnant women infected with COVID-19. Materials and methods: A prospective study was performed in BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, one of the biggest designated (1200 beds) COVID hospitals in India. It was carried out from June 2020 to mid-October 2020. A total of 50 pregnant patients who were COVID-19 positive and admitted to the labor room were studied. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 27.40 ± 4.76 years (range: 19–36 years) and mean gravidity was 1.67 ± 1.41 (range: 1–4). The mean gestational age was 38.31 ± 1.67 weeks. The main complaint was fever in 22 (44%), followed by dry cough in 9 (18%), sore throat in 4 (8%), headache in 2 (4%), malaise in 7 (14%), and diarrhea in 2 (4%) patients. Twenty-two (44%) patients showed an elevated C-reactive protein level, 17 (34%) had lymphopenia, 19 (38%) had mild elevation of the D-dimer level, and 16% of the patients had increased interleukin 6 levels. Most of the patients had normal renal function test (RFT) and liver function test (LFT) results. A majority of them (86%) had normal chest X-ray, whereas rest of them (14%) had haziness in bilateral lung fields. Twenty-six (52%) patients underwent C-section, and 23 (46%) delivered vaginally. Four (8%) babies required the admission in the newborn intensive care unit for mild birth asphyxia but were discharged well. Five babies developed physiological jaundice and required single surface phototherapy (SSPT). Forty-eight (96%) out of 50 had negative vaginal swab by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), 48 (96%) did not show any evidence of the virus in the expressed breast milk by RT-PCR. We collected the cord blood sample of 35 patients after delivery which was found to be negative in all (100%). The nasopharyngeal swab of all the babies was negative on the very first day. Day 7 repeat swab was found positive only in one baby. This transmission was mostly via respiratory droplets during intermittent assisted breastfeeding. Most of the cases were having mild disease without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which responded to the supportive treatment. Four patients (8%) had severe anemia and required blood transfusion. Conclusion: Most of the cases were having mild disease without ARDS, which responded to supportive treatment. Reassuringly, there was no evidence of poor fetal outcome, intrauterine fetal deaths, or premature deliveries. We did not find any evidence of the virus in the vaginal fluid, cord blood, or breast milk supporting vertical transmission of COVID-19 in the third trimester of pregnancy, even if patient delivered vaginally.