COVID-19 infection during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of complications, including hospitalization and death for the pregnant woman, as well as premature birth and stillbirth.
COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy
COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy has been shown to be effective against COVID-19 in pregnant women as well as their infants, but evidence of pregnancy outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination- 19 in pregnancy from large studies are limited.
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To address this issue, researchers began assessing the risk of preterm birth, small for gestational age, and stillbirth after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy.
They used a population-based birth registry to identify all newborns and infants with a gestational age of at least 20 weeks or a birth weight of at least 500g in Ontario, Canada between day 1 May to December 31, 2021.
This information is then linked to a database that collects all COVID-19 vaccination cases in the province.
A variety of potentially influential factors were taken into account. These factors include the mother’s age at birth, body mass index before pregnancy, smoking or substance use reported during pregnancy, previous health status, number of live births and previous stillbirths, area of residence and income.
Of the 85,162 births, 43,099 occurred in those who received one dose or more of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy – 42, 979 (99.7%) received the mRNA vaccine, mainly mainly Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
The researchers found that vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with any increased risk of preterm birth overall (6.5% among vaccinated vs 6.9% among unvaccinated). spontaneous preterm birth (3.7% v 4.4%), or premature birth (0.59% v 0.89%)
There was no increased risk of small for gestational age at birth (9.1% vs 9.2%) or stillbirth (0.25% vs 0.44%).
Results were similar regardless of the stage (three months) of the pregnancy vaccination, the number of doses given during pregnancy, or the mRNA vaccine product.
This was an observational study, so a cause could not be determined, and the researchers point to some limitations, such as being unable to assess COVID-19 vaccination prior to pregnancy or during pregnancy. conception and is limited to the evaluation of mRNA vaccine products.
However, results remained unchanged in additional sensitivity analyzes designed to assess the impact of different methodological approaches, suggesting that they are potentially powerful.
Therefore, the researchers say: “Our findings – along with existing evidence suggest that Immunization during pregnancy is effective against COVID-19 for pregnant women and their infantsand COVID-19 during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of adverse maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes – which may inform evidence-based decision-making about COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. ”
They added: “Future studies to evaluate similar outcomes following immunization with non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy should be an investigational priority.
Source: Eurekalert
