OBJECTIVE: To describe the maternal clinical characteristics, maternal and perinatal outcomes in COVID-19-positive pregnant women.
METHODS: Articles in all languages on the SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women were sought from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and LILACS; China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wan Fang Data between December 1, 2019 and April 27, 2020. Bulletins and national reports were also searched.
RESULTS: From 12168 retrieved articles, 143 were selected for full-text assessment; 33 for descriptive analyses, and 4 case-controls for meta-analysis. In 322 infected pregnant women, aged 20-45 years, the most frequent maternal comorbidity was obesity (24.2%). Forty-two (28.4%) were asymptomatic at admission. Cough (n=148,59.7%) and fever (n=147,59.3%) were the most prevalent symptoms. In the meta-analysis, fever (OR: 0.13,95% CI 0.05 to 0.36) and cough (0.26,95% CI 0.11 to 0.59) were lower in pregnant women with COVID-19 than non-pregnant women with COVID-19. 195 (60.6%) delivered, and 125 (38.8%) remained pregnant during the study. Cesarean was reported in 99 (50.8%) women and vaginal delivery in 64 (32.8%). The main adverse obstetric outcome was premature birth (n=37,18.9%). Thirty patients (10.3%) with COVID-19-related complications required intensive care, one (0.3%) died. SARS-CoV-2 was absent in breast milk, amniotic fluid, placenta or umbilical cord blood.
CONCLUSIONS: The maternal clinical characteristics of COVID-19-positive pregnant include frequently fever and cough; however significantly less frequently than non-pregnant women with COVID-19. Iatrogenic preterm birth is the main adverse obstetric outcome. Current data does not support vertical transmission in the third trimester.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is an emerging concern regarding the potential adverse effects during pregnancy. This study reviews knowledge on the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and describes the outcome of published cases of pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: Searches were conducted in PubMed®, Scopus®, Web of Science®, and MedRxiv® up to 26th June 2020, using PRISMA standards, to identify original published studies describing pregnant women at any gestational age diagnosed COVID-19. There were no date or language restrictions on the search. All identified studies were included irrespective of assumptions on study quality. Results: We identified 161 original studies reporting 3,985 cases of pregnant women with COVID-19 (1,007 discharged while pregnant). The 2,059 published cases with pregnancy outcomes resulted in 42 abortions, 21 stillbirths, and 2,015 live births. Preterm birth occurred in 23% of cases. Around 6% of pregnant women required admission to an intensive care unit and 28 died. There were 10 neonatal deaths. From the 163 cases with amniotic fluid, placenta, and/or cord blood analyzed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 10 were positive. Sixty-one newborns were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Four breast milk samples from 92 cases showed evidence of SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: Emerging evidence suggests that vertical transmission is possible, however, there is still a limited number of reported cases with intrapartum samples. Information, counseling and adequate monitoring are essential to prevent and manage adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.
