The Risks of Coronavirus in Pregnancy

Most births are uncomplicated, but coronavirus still increases the risk of bad outcomes dramatically.

In the coronavirus era, pregnant women represent a unique cohort in the hospital. They can have florid COVID-19 symptoms, and deaths have been reported. But of course, they may also be in the hospital just to deliver a baby, and can have COVID detected essentially incidentally.

Early on in the pandemic, a friend of mine — anesthesiologist in New York City — told me how overwhelmed he was with COVID cases. Not in the ICU — he was working in the maternity ward. Ordinary pregnancies became complicated — c-sections spiked — and outcomes worsened. But, until I saw this paper appearing in JAMA Internal Medicine, his experience was just another anecdote in a sea of COVID war stories.

Finally, we have some hard data on the risks of COVID-19 in pregnancy. And we need it now more than ever, as women who are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant will need to make decisions about getting a vaccine. A vaccine which was evaluated in studies that specifically excluded pregnant women.