Background:
Viral infections pose significant risks to pregnant women and fetuses. Although the impact of many viruses on pregnancy has been well-documented, the specific effects of COVID-19 on gestational age and newborn development remain unclear. There is a need to investigate these relationships in an Indian context where data on COVID-19 and pregnancy outcomes are limited.
Aim:
To determine the effect of COVID-19 Infection on gestational age and birth weight in neonates born to COVID-19 positive mothers during the third trimester of gestation.
Methods:
This retrospective cohort study used medical records collected from March 2020 to September 2022 at a tertiary hospital in Bangalore. The data were analyzed in 2023. A total of 379 pregnant women aged 18–35 years were included in the study. Out of which 325 were COVID-19 positive while 54 were COVID-19 negative. In all the study subjects, comorbidities, gestational age, birth weight, and infection severity were recorded and analyzed. The chi-square test and Mood's median test were used to compare COVID-19 positive pregnant women with COVID-19-negative pregnant women who delivered during the same time period.
Results:
COVID-19 infected women had an average gestational age of 269.24 ± 16.11 days compared to noninfected women 270.33 ± 10.65 days with p-value 0.733. Approximately 13.84 %(45) of COVID-19 positive women delivered their babies preterm. The study found that the average birth weight of babies born to COVID-19 infected mothers was 2.78 ± 0.53 kg compared to 2.81 ± 0.4 kg in non-infected mothers with p-value 0.637 and the birth weights in both groups were comparable to the average birth weight in India.
Conclusion:
The study found that COVID-19 did not appear to increase the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm delivery or low birth weight, in the studied population, suggesting that it does not pose a specific threat to the health of the mother or fetus.
Key words: Viral infections, Gestational age, Intrauterine viral transmission, Growth restriction, Placental barrier
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