Pregnant women who contract Covid-19 are twice as likely to have a stillbirth, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found.
This danger spiked during the deadly Delta wave during the summer of 2021, with pregnant women infected with the virus at four times greater risk of a stillbirth.
The study of 1.2 million births in more than 700 hospitals between March 2020 and September 2021, found that for women with Covid, about 1 in 80 deliveries resulted in a stillbirth.
Among uninfected women, that figure was around 1 in 155.
For women with Covid-19, chronic conditions such as high blood pressure compounded the danger.
“These findings underscore the importance of Covid-19 prevention strategies, including vaccination before or during pregnancy,’’ said CDC researcher Carla DeSisto.
Pregnant Covid sufferers were also in greater danger of developing severe and in some cases fatal illness, and experience complications such as premature births.
The results of the comprehensive study reinforce concerns among obstetricians and back up anecdotal data on the dangers of Covid for women, the researchers say.
They say the risk of stillbirth is low, but warn that women should not underestimate the dangers of Covid if they are pregnant.
Some experts believe the virus may cause inflammation in the placenta or other abnormalities that can harm the foetus.
“What’s really sad is we have 10 months of a vaccine that’s been highly effective and we just can’t convince people to take advantage of this,’’ said Dr Mark Turrentine, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Future studies were required to examine how Covid pregnancies affected different races, the authors said.
“Covid-19 has disproportionately affected many racial and ethnic minority groups, putting them more at risk of getting sick and dying.’’
Studies have concluded that Covid vaccines are safe for pregnant women.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
